Picketers denied entry into De Klerk Foundation
IN REJECTING former president FW De Klerk’s comments on apartheid, the Black People’s National Crisis Committee (BPNCC) yesterday descended on the FW de Klerk Foundation in Plattekloof, but were not allowed inside.
The group wanted to meet with the foundation and the former president, but were told the foundation did not know they were coming.
Instead, they had to gather outside the gates of the business complex to address the media, with police present.
“They said they did not know we were coming. They sent a representative to collect our memorandum, but we said we want a meeting with De Klerk and his foundation,” national organiser Chumani Maxwele said.
The BPNCC said they demanded that the De Klerk Foundation be closed down for defending views that were deliberately meant to provoke the majority of the country, who were still suffering from the legacy of apartheid.
“There are things De Klerk knows, like the Mthatha massacre – we want that information. An apology should (be given) for what happened to Jama Mbeki and Sonwabo Mbeki – we don’t know what happened to them. We want him to apologise on live television where he made the statements. We want an apology for saying it was not a crime against humanity,” Maxwele said.
According to Maxwele, the BPNCC would meet with the foundation within the next seven days.
The De Klerk Foundation did not respond to requests for comment by deadline.