The funeral of former president, FW de Klerk, who died on Thursday aged 85, will take place on Sunday 21 November in a private ceremony, his foundation said in a statement on Sunday.
De Klerk, who won praise worldwide for his role in scrapping apartheid and shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Nelson Mandela in 1993, has a complex legacy that left many grappling with conflicting emotions following his death.
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"The FW de Klerk Foundation wishes to announce that FW de Klerk's cremation and funeral will take place on Sunday, 21 November," it said in statement.
FW de Klerk foundation announces funeral arrangements of the former statesman who died on Thursday morning. The private ceremony will take place next week Sunday and will not be open to the media. @News24 (@MarvinCharles_) pic.twitter.com/Eys2HucKPX
— Team News24 (@TeamNews24) November 14, 2021
"It will be a private ceremony for family members and will not be open to media," it said, providing no further detail.
De Klerk died aged 85 after a battle with cancer. After his death, his foundation published a video in which he apologised for crimes against other ethnic groups during decades of white minority rule in South Africa.
He had previously refused to apologise and prompted backlash as recently as last year when he said he did not believe apartheid was a crime against humanity. On the other hand, he angered right wing Afrikaners who viewed him as a traitor to their causes of white supremacy and nationalism by ending apartheid.
Remarks on his death from world leaders and citizens alike reflected the difficult space in history he occupied; a key player in one of the most infamous oppressive regimes but also one who moved to bring it to an end.
For some, his death marked a new chapter for South Africa.
"I feel like his death helps South Africa move forward in a way, away from all the criticism, the negativity, the racism," 30-year-old South African Pusiletso Makofane said in Johannesburg on Thursday.