The weekend tributes by President Nelson Mandela to Mr F.W. de Klerk were generous. The latter's decision to bow out of politics prompted Mr Mandela to say that Mr De Klerk had "put his political career and his life in danger" by initiating South Africa's peaceful transition to majority rule and that he was "one of the eminent midwives of the new democratic order". Praise indeed, given that relations between the two men have deteriorated greatly in recent years.
Like Mr Mandela, Mr De Klerk's place in history is assured and, for the most part, it will be favourable. He deserved his Nobel Peace Prize. His decision, in 1990, to legitimise the ANC, release Mr Mandela from prison and abandon apartheid meant that the country could hope that the bloodbath, which seemed inevitable, would be avoided. Mr De Klerk had been elected leader of his party and President only a year before. He had blocked tentative reforms proposed by President Botha and, having acted the hardliner proved, once in office, to be the ultimate pragmatist.
retiring from politics after the 1994 elections. Since then his party's presence has diminished and his own reputation has suffered. His sworn evidence to the Truth and Reconciliation Committee that he knew nothing of government apartheid-era atrocities - despite chairing the Security Council - did him no favours. The Committee's chairman, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, made it clear that his evidence was not credible and he was incensed at Mr De Klerk's refusal to take any responsibility for human rights abuses.
Mr De Klerk's testimony put paid to what hopes the National Party had of building support among black conservatives (and there are many) who want an alternative to the ANC. The National Party is now down to 12 per cent in the polls, it has lost most of its reformist members and its strength outside the Cape area is negligible. Mr De Klerk's successor, to be chosen next week, will be required to do nothing less then reinvent the party.
The candidates in the succession race do not seem up to it. They are mostly inveterate Afrikaners who have no chance of building support among black voters, even if they wanted to. But it is vital for South Africa to have a strong opposition. The ANC grows by the day. It has reduced Inkatha to a regional existence and can look forward to overwhelming voter support in the 1999 elections. Meanwhile the country is inflicted with a crime wave of horrific proportions and corruption is rampant. South Africa does not need the National Party to dwindle further into peripheral impotence.