Former president De Klerk diagnosed with cancer
Apartheid's last president FW de Klerk has been diagnosed with cancer.
De Klerk used his 85th birthday on Thursday to confirm the news in a statement.
The FW De Klerk Foundation says he will start with treatment next week.
“Former President FW de Klerk announced at his 85th birthday today that he has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, which is a cancer that affects the tissue that lines the lungs.
"Mr De Klerk will start a course of immunotherapy next week. There is no immediate threat and we are confident that the treatment will be successful."
READ: 3 killed in KZN South Coast horror crash
In October last year, his son Willem de Klerk died of cancer at the age of 53.
De Klerk, who was elected as president in a whites-only election in 1989, announced the release from prison of Nelson Mandela on 11 February 1990..
In 1992 he oversaw the referendum in which 68% of white South Africans voted in favour of bringing an end to apartheid.
De Klerk served as head of state until 1994, when Mandela was inaugurated as democratic South Africa’s first president.
De Klerk and Mandela shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
