STATEMENT BY FW DE KLERK ON THE DEATH OF GEN MAGNUS MALAN

I have learned with sorrow of the death of Gen Magnus Malan.  

Gen Malan played a leading role, as Chief of the South African Defence Force and as Minister of Defence, in developing the SADF into the most formidable military force in Africa.

Under his leadership the SADF played an indispensible role in defending South Africa and our region until the collapse of Soviet communism facilitated the commencement of the negotiations that led to the establishment of our non-racial constitutional democracy.

From an early stage Gen Malan and the SADF accepted that there could never be a military solution to the constitutional challenges facing South Africa and worked diligently for the establishment of conditions that would make a peaceful and negotiated settlement possible.

I should like to extend my sincere condolences to Gen Malan's wife, family, friends and to all his former SADF comrades.

Statement issued by the FW de Klerk Foundation, July 18 2011

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