The last apartheid president FW de Klerk is either ignorant or arrogant to say the racist system was not a crime against humanity.

As South Africans, we need to remind ourselves that whenever someone says something from the background of history, we must ask ourselves what is the politics behind the statement. De Klerk is therefore both arrogant and ignorant, including selfish, to make such a statement.

However, despite the hurt we and our parents felt during apartheid, and the lingering scars, I want to say De Klerk is not speaking on behalf of a every white South African. As proudly South Africans, let us not allow his statement to divide us.

Let's be a good example of the good that SA can become, especially for the generations to come. It is possible for us to work together to pave a better future. We cannot change history, but we can change the life lying ahead. Let it not be about us, but for the future generations, which must live in harmony as members of one human race.

Martha Mphelo, Mamelodi West