Marike de Klerk
| Marike de Klerk | |
|---|---|
| First Lady of South Africa | |
|
In role 15 August 1989 – 10 May 1994 |
|
| Preceded by | Anna Elizabeth Botha |
| Succeeded by | Winnie Madikizela-Mandela |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
17 November 1941 Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa |
| Died | 4 December 2001 (aged 60) Cape Town, South Africa |
| Nationality | South African |
| Political party | National Party |
| Height | 174 cm (5 ft 9 in) |
| Spouse(s) | Frederik Willem de Klerk (1959 – 1996) |
| Children | Jan, Willem, Susan |
| Alma mater | Potchefstroom University |
| Religion | Dutch Reformed Church |
Marike de Klerk (17 November 1941 – 4 December 2001) was the First Lady of South Africa, as the wife of State President Frederik Willem de Klerk, from 1989 to 1994. She was also a politician of the former governing National Party in her own right. She was murdered in her Cape Town home in 2001.
Marike was born into an upper-middle class Afrikaans family in Pretoria. Her father, Wilhelm Willemse, was an academic and writer. He was Professor of Social Pathology and Psychology at University of Pretoria.
Marike met her future husband, F. W. de Klerk, at Potchefstroom University (where she was studying for a degree in commerce). The couple later married and adopted three children together; Jan, Willem, and Susan.
In 1983 Marike came under fire over comments she made about the Coloured community: 'You know, they are a negative group ... a non-person. They are the people that were left after the nations were sorted out. They are the rest,'.
In 1991 she became embroiled in a personal drama when the South African press revealed that her son, Willem was in an 18-month-long relationship with a coloured woman, Erica Adams. Adams was also from a political background, her father being a politician for the Labor Party. 'Willem`s romance with Erica upsets Marike' was the headline published by the Sunday Times. Willem was reportedly under pressure from his mother to end the inter-racial romance, the couple ended their engagement in 1992 and Willem married another woman the following year.
Marike was later unhappy with housing arrangements during South Africa's transition to democracy. It was originally intended that after the election in 1994, she and the president would stay in the Libertas home and Nelson Mandela would take up residence in another home known as the Presidency. Mandela later said that he was under pressure from his political party, the ANC to take up residence at Libertas. Therefore, the de Klerks would instead move to the Presidency. Mandela then told the de Klerks that senior colleagues wanted to use the Presidency for other uses. Therefore, they moved into Overvaal, the former home of Transvaal's administrators. Overvaal needed substantial refurbishing and Marike was angry that Mandela carried out a personal inspection to decide what the home needed, costs that the public works department would meet. FW de Klerk later said: "She was deeply distressed by all the chopping and changing which she interpreted as a calculated attempt by Mandela himself to humiliate us... This latest humiliation became too much for her to swallow. She became very critical of Mandela and did not hesitate to voice her criticism." The de Klerks later attended Mandela's inauguration as president at the Union Buildings in Pretoria. Melanie Verwoerd would later recount that Marike was the only person sitting in the packed public gallery as Mandela entered the room and those around her rose and clapped. One MP implored the former first lady to acknowledge the occasion: 'Get up Marike, you are rude!' Marike remained seated and glared at the MP.
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