Durban – A Nobel Peace Prize awarded to former president FW de Klerk has been stolen.
It was allegedly taken during a burglary at his home in Fresnaye in Cape Town, News24 reported.
de Klerk died in November 2021 at the age of 85, after fighting a battle with cancer.
The Nobel foundation, the custodian of the Nobel peace prize is awarded to outstanding global citizens.
In 1993, the foundation jointly awarded De Klerk and Nelson Mandela the prize.
De Klerk’s wife Elita confirmed the theft to News24 saying it was difficult for her to place a financial value on the items taken.
She further told them that the robbery took place in April this year.
When she returned from an overseas holiday the safe was almost empty.
A man who worked for the family for over 7 years is being pursued by police according to Elita, but they have been unable to locate him, News24 reported.
It is understood that Elita’s jewellery, some of which she had inherited from her mother, was also stolen according to News24.
The peace prize is made of 196g of 18-carat gold with a diameter of 6.6cm.
News 24 reported the De Klerks are guarded by the Presidential Protection Service in the SAPS.
In 2020, the Economic Freedom Fighter leader Julius Malema called on the Nobel Foundation to revoke De Klerk’s peace prize for making comments that apartheid was not a crime against humanity.
The party said De Klerk should be stripped of the award because he was an apartheid denialist and did not deserve to keep the award.
Shortly after this death, the FW de Klerk Foundation released a video in which the former president apologised for the damage apartheid had caused. He said his apology came not only as a former president but as an individual.
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