The De Klerk Foundation revealed that F.W. de Klerk’s Nobel Peace Prize medal was stolen from his home in Cape Town in April of this year during a burglary. De Klerk was the last president to lead under the apartheid regime.
De Klerk and Nelson Mandela were both given the medal in 1993 for their roles in turning South Africa from an apartheid system to a democracy.
The medal, made from 18-carat recycled gold, was given to the two men for “their work for the peaceful termination of the apartheid regime, and for laying the foundations for a new democratic South Africa.”
“I can confirm that the Nobel Peace Prize belonging to FW de Klerk was stolen from his home earlier this year,” Brenda Steyn, the foundation’s legacy manager, told AFP.
The theft was reported to the Cape Town police, and De Klerk’s widow, Elita Georgiades, thinks it was done by a former employee who worked for the family for seven years.
Also read:
Picture: CNN