While police in the province confirmed that a criminal case is currently under investigation after the theft of the Nobel Prize belonging to South Africa’s last Apartheid leader, members of the public and prominent political figures have made light of the burglary at the home of F.W. de Klerk.
Also read: New campaign aims to strip De Klerk of Nobel Prize
Earlier this week, the F.W. de Klerk Foundation announced that the Nobel Peace Prize, which was awarded to the former president, jointly with Nelson Mandela in 1993, had been stolen from the former president’s home in Cape Town about six months ago.
The Nobel Foundation, the custodian of the Nobel Peace Prize, awards the prize to outstanding global citizens.
In response to a media enquiry from IOL on Thursday, Western Cape police appealed for anyone with information about the theft to contact Crime Stop.
“Kindly be advised that the criminal case is under investigation by SAPS detectives. No arrests have been effected as yet.”
“Any person with information is kindly requested to contact Crime Stop,” said Western Cape SAPS provincial spokesperson Colonel André Traut.
Meanwhile, Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association spokesperson Carl Niehaus was amused by the theft, saying that “finally” the Nobel Peace Prize had been liberated and calling the theft an act of “poetic justice”.
“So the Nobel Peace Prize is finally liberated from that racist criminal’s home!” said Niehaus. “He should never have received the Nobel Peace Prize in the first place.”
“How in heaven’s name did the Nobel Peace Prize committee on the first instance (award) the peace prize to someone who committed crimes against humanity? It was a totally aberration. This theft has the ring of poetic justice to it.”
Twitter users had various reactions to the news, with many finding the incident comical and wasting little time making light of the situation.
“Good!” tweeted political analyst, Kim Heller. “The Nobel Peace prize of the UnNoble former apartheid leader FW De Klerk whose racist regime killed and destroyed black lives was stolen in a robbery.”
De Klerk’s Nobel Prize has been a contentious issue in South Africa and has resulted in calls for the Nobel Foundation to revoke his award.
In 2020, Julius Malema called for De Klerk to be stripped of the accolade following comments that Apartheid was not a crime against humanity.
At the time, the EFF claimed that the former president didn’t deserve the award because he was an Apartheid denialist.
Also read:
F.W. de Klerk’s Nobel Prize stolen from his home in Cape Town
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