South African police said today they had arrested a security guard in connection with the murder of the ex-wife of the country's last apartheid president.
Ms Marike de Klerk, ex-wife of former President F.W. de Klerk, was stabbed and strangled to death on Monday, becoming one of the most prominent victims of South Africa's rampant crime wave.
Mr de Klerk, who divorced his wife of 39 years in 1998, arrived in Cape Town early today after cutting short a trip to Stockholm where he was to attend a Nobel centenery celebration.
"I have not been fully briefed. I would like to have all the facts before I make a comment," Mr de Klerk told reporters.
His spokesman told reporters the arrested man was not known to Mrs de Klerk. A police spokesman in Cape Town said the suspect was a security guard from the company that guarded the premises where Mrs de Klerk lived.
"The special investigation team of the South African Police Service, which was established to investigate the murder of Mrs Marike de Klerk, has detained a suspect for questioning," National Commissioner of Police Mr Jackie Selebi said.
"I have every confidence that they will not rest until they are convinced that they apprehended the perpetrators of this crime and have built a solid court-ready case," Mr Selebi said.
South Africa has one of the highest crime rates in the world, with about 21,000 murders last year.