The Complicated Legacy of F W de Klerk

The Complicated Legacy of F W de Klerk

The result of his complicated legacy, the death of South Africa's last apartheid president, F W de Klerk, on November 11 2021 generated a flood of differing assessments. De Klerk wrote himself into the history of South Africa on February 2 1990, when he announced the unbanning of the African National Party (ANC) and other liberation movements, as well as the release of Nelson Mandela from prison. While this set South Africa on the path of reform, De Klerk’s failure to break free of apartheid thinking was evident throughout the years that would follow.


To arrive at a rounded, fact-based understanding of De Klerk’s place in history, Dan is joined by “Mac” Maharaj. Mac has been involved in the freedom struggle since 1952. After serving a twelve-year sentence on Robben Island from 1965-1976, he was appointed secretary of the department charged with organising the ANC within South Africa. Mac served alongside De Klerk in the first democratic cabinet, led by Mandela. As joint secretary of the Multi-Party Negotiating Forum and the Transitional Executive Council, Mac was directly involved in the negotiations that produced the transition from apartheid to democracy.


Mac is the co-author of the upcoming Breakthrough: The Struggles and Secret Talks that Brought Apartheid SA to the Negotiating Table

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episoder(1498)

Georgian Musings on Homosexuality

Georgian Musings on Homosexuality

Eamonn O'Keeffe is a young Oxford Researcher in the midst of a PhD. He stopped off in Wakefield Library to look at a journal Yorkshire farmer Matthew Tomlinson to see if the author had any opinions on...

20 Feb 202015min

The Boundless Sea

The Boundless Sea

We are a land animal. But millions of us have taken to the sea to live, fight, travel, eat, escape and seek fame and fortune. I am obsessed with the sea. On how humans have built ever more efficient a...

19 Feb 202022min

The Boy Who Followed His Father Into Auschwitz

The Boy Who Followed His Father Into Auschwitz

This is the most remarkable father and son story I have ever come across.We are still marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz here at History Hit and this time I am talking to hist...

17 Feb 202045min

West Africa before the Europeans

West Africa before the Europeans

Toby Green has been fascinated by the history of West Africa for decades after he visited as a student and heard whispers of history that didn’t appear in text books. Years later he wrote ‘Fistful of ...

16 Feb 202026min

Suicide at the Fall of Nazi Germany

Suicide at the Fall of Nazi Germany

There is almost no end to the dark secrets that emerge from the smashed ruins of 1945 Europe. Dr Florian Huber has spent years researching the fascinating story of the epidemic of suicide that spread ...

13 Feb 202022min

The Adventuress

The Adventuress

In the 1930s Lady Lucy Houston was one of the richest women in England and a household name, notorious for her virulent criticisms of the government, but politics had been far from her mind when, as y...

12 Feb 202021min

A Very Stable Genius

A Very Stable Genius

Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig are both Pulitzer Prize winning journalists at the Washington Post.They've written a new book with yet more revelations from inside the Trump White House so Dan seized ...

10 Feb 202022min

Dresden. 75 years on.

Dresden. 75 years on.

75 years ago this week Dresden, in Saxony, known as the ‘jewel box’ because of its stunning architecture was obliterated by British and American bombers. The flames reached almost a mile high. Around ...

9 Feb 202035min

Populært innen Historie

rss-dette-ma-aldri-skje-igjen
rss-katastrofe
henrettelsespodden
historier-som-endret-norge
historier-som-endret-verden
aftenposten-historie
rss-nadelose-nordmenn-gestapo
med-egne-oyne
rss-benadet
sektledere
rss-strid-de-norske-borgerkrigene
historiepodden
rss-frontkjemperne
rss-gamle-greier
rss-historiske-romanser-svik-drap-og-kjarlighet
taakeprat
liberal-halvtime
vare-historier
virkelig-grusomt
historiepodden-ww2