November 14, 2021
The Passing of Former South African President Frederik de Klerk
Upon the passing of former South African President Frederik Willem de Klerk on November 11, 2021, SGI President Ikeda sent a message to his family expressing his heartfelt condolences. Mr. de Klerk was 85 years old.
While president, Mr. de Klerk released from incarceration anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela and contributed to the end of apartheid and to the desegregation of the country. In 1993, he shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Mr. Mandela, who would go on to be elected South Africa’s next president. Under President de Klerk’s leadership, South Africa dismantled the nuclear weapons arsenal it had constructed, becoming the first and only country to do so.
President Ikeda and Mr. de Klerk met in Tokyo in June 1992 where they discussed the future of world peace.
[Adapted from an article in the November 14, 2021, online issue of the Seikyo Shimbun, Soka Gakkai, Japan]
