Columns Yes, there are enough good ones, but we need de Klerk

The story of the former president of South Africa reminds us that the joy of the conversion of the greatest sinners will be greatest.

South Africa former President F.W. de Klerk died on Thursday at the age of 85. He was the last head of state in the country to be elected during the apartheid racist regime.

At the same time, he was also the first head of state and man to leave Nelson Mandela to dismantle apartheid laws.

De Klerk’s story is the story of a bad man who found something good, even though he never became flawless.

Just however, the change of mind of such evils can be decisive. Even the Bible comes to mind stories of a lost sheep and a prodigal son: there is much more joy in heaven about one converted sinner than ninety-nine who are not in need of repentance.

We do not apply this more in our everyday discussions. If you take a look at social media, for example, there are enough righteous and eternal righteous people in their own lives. It is customary to proclaim one’s orthodoxy in order to get likes from one’s own camp.

Whatever it is, there is no greatest force for change in these debates.

The power to change, on the other hand, can lie in people who find themselves on the wrong side of history and start doing something about it.

I interviewed de Klerk three years ago, and we initially recalled the 1980s. International pressure and sanctions against apartheid then tightened year by year. The bitterness of the ethnic majority seemed to anticipate the drowning of southern Africa in fire and blood.

It happened differently, and for that we can thank Mandela and de Klerk. They received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

De Klerk was the first to admit not to dismantle apartheid laws just for goodness. He even dared to claim that apartheid could have continued for decades to come.

“But the balance of power would have turned against us in the end. Later and in a weaker position, we would not have got such a constitution, ”he said.

Every day apartheid was too much in human terms, but de Klerk said that only a decade earlier the reforms would have shielded the opposition of his own party and the fear that one of Africa’s communist regimes would emerge in the country.

Then the Berlin Wall broke down and the process of disintegration of the Soviet Union opened a window of opportunity in de Klerk’s own thinking. While negotiations with Mandela still seemed promising, he persuaded his party to reject apartheid.

The end is history, but of course there were no problems. In an interview, de Klerk recited the worm figures to the ruling party ANC about how Mandela’s legacy was almost tarnished. However, the current president, Cyril Ramaphosa de Klerk, was preferred over the previous ANC leadership.

Interview the connection I made a little comment, where I was waiting for the next de Clerk. Such could be a Chinese leader who persuades his party to stand for free elections. Or the leader of Saudi Arabia, who would move his country from monarchy to democracy.

These are still dreams. But this week, the two worst emitters in the world, the United States and China, agreed. ”increasing climate action in the 2020s”And not until later.

It also has connections with de Klerk’s legacy and the legendary son’s legend.

The greatest sinners can often do too little and too late. Yet it is their power to change that may be more crucial to our future than how righteous you and I may be.

The author is the cultural editor of HS.

Read more: FW de Klerk, the former president of South Africa and the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, has died

Read more: The racist freed the terrorist, and something beautiful was born – “Now Nelson Mandela’s legacy has been eroded,” former South African president tells HS

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