Former South African president FW de Klerk who died at the age of 85 in Cape Town, was one of only four South Africans to receive the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize.  De Klerk shared the award with his presidential successor, Nelson Mandela, in 1993 for ending apartheid and helping to create a new South Africa.  Following the historic 1994 election, De Klerk became Mandela's deputy.  But their rocky relationship saw him quit their Government of National Unity.  During the Truth and Reconciliation Commission period, De Klerk apologised for the pain and suffering that apartheid had caused, but didn't go far enough for everyone.

Credits: Angie Kapelianis, John Perlman, Danny Booysen and the SABC Media Libraries.

© SABC 2021. No unauthorised use, copying, adaptation or reproduction permitted without prior written consent of the SABC.

South Africa's last white president, FW de Klerk, who has died at the age of 85 in Cape Town, will be remembered for effectively ending apartheid and paving the way for constitutional negotiations.  On the second of February 1990, De Klerk shocked everyone by unbanning anti-apartheid organisations, such as the ANC, and by announcing the release of the world's then-most famous prisoner, Nelson Mandela.

Credits: Angie Kapelianis, John Perlman, Danny Booysen and the SABC Media Libraries.

© SABC 2021. No unauthorised use, copying, adaptation or reproduction permitted without prior written consent of the SABC.

After a long process to choose a design and construct a building, the new South African Constitutional Court building, the flagship structure of Constitution Hill, was officially opened on 21 March 2004. Judge Albie Sachs gives us a tour of the historic site.

Credits: Angie Kapelianis

© SABC 2021. No unauthorised use, copying, adaptation or reproduction permitted without prior written consent of the SABC.

Most people would frown at a casino consortium agreeing to build a museum for its licence. But that’s exactly what Gold Reef City has done with the help of a team of experts. It got its licence and it’s quietly built an impressive apartheid museum on its doorstep in Johannesburg. The museum opened in 2001.

Credits:  Angie Kapelianis

© SABC 2021. No unauthorised use, copying, adaptation or reproduction permitted without prior written consent of the SABC.

He was unknown to the Security Police at Vlakplaas near Pretoria until they were told to "make a plan" with him. Several banning orders, long days in detention and a spell on Robben Island had failed to break his spirit and crush his fight against apartheid. He was Griffiths Mxenge, the human rights lawyer who vigorously defended ANC comrades. So they abducted, stabbed and hammered him to death at Umlazi, south of Durban, in November 1981. Fifteen years later, in October 1996, three of Mxengeís awaiting-trial murderers appeared before the Amnesty Committee in Durban. They were Dirk Coetzee, Almond Nofemela and David Tshikalanga. Although they had already broken their oath of silence on the apartheid governmentís death-squads seven years earlier, they had never buried their skeletons.

Credits:  Angie Kapelianis and Dumisani Shange, Sally Burdett and Danny Booysen.

Transcript: http://www.sabctruth.co.za/sabctruth/worldsright.htm#till

From the series South Africa's Human Spirit. Available wherever you find your podcasts.

© SABC 2021. No unauthorised use, copying, adaptation or reproduction permitted without prior written consent of the SABC.

Additional music: B - Somber Ballads by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Blue Feather - Reunited by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1200068 Artist: http://incompetech.com/