EFF calls for De Klerk to be stripped of Nobel Peace accolade
The EFF says De Klerk does not deserve the accolade which he won alongside Nelson Mandela in 1993.
CAPE TOWN - The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has called for former president FW De Klerk to be stripped of his Nobel Peace Prize.
This comes after De Klerk published a controversial letter in The Times newspaper, in the United Kingdom, reacting to renewed efforts to have a statue of Cecil John Rhodes at Oxford University's Oriel College removed.
In a short statement making rounds on the social media platform, the former president says he could not understand why an organisation as honourable as Oriel would be so ungrateful and ungracious in the treatment of its benefactor.
The former president has called the movement, a "folly", saying Afrikaner people have reason to dislike Rhodes, more than anyone else.
The EFF's Mbuyiseni Ndlozi has hit back, saying De Klerk does not deserve the accolade which he won alongside Nelson Mandela in 1993.
"De Klerk is not apologetic of apartheid. We call on that prize to be withdrawn and then reissued to Nelson Mandela, who should have never received it alongside De Klerk in the first place."
In case you missed it, here is De Klerk's letter on #RhodesMustFall in Oxford pic.twitter.com/YmysVpHnK2
— EFF Official Account (@EFFSouthAfrica) December 27, 2015
We call on Nobel Peace Prize committee to recall De Klerk's award & reissue it to Mandela; its clear he should have never shared it with him
— Mbuyiseni Ndlozi (@MbuyiseniNdlozi) December 27, 2015
Oxford University must not listen to De Klerk whose recent views represent his private ambitions to become a statue himself.
— Mbuyiseni Ndlozi (@MbuyiseniNdlozi) December 27, 2015
More than 2,300 people have signed a petition calling for the removal of the Rhodes' statue from the institution.
The campaigners say the 19 century colonialist views are against the "inclusive culture" of the university.
Rhodes gave a donation of 100,000 pounds to Oriel College.
De Klerk added that it was "regrettable" that the 'Rhodes Must Fall' campaign spread to other countries.
This was in reference to the fall of the Rhodes statue at the University of Cape Town in April this year.
