Who was the last apartheid-era president who contributed to ending apartheid?

• A. Nelson Mandela
• B. F.W. de Klerk
• C. Steve Biko
• D. Haganah

Answer: (B)

This question tests understanding of who helped end apartheid from inside the government by initiating reforms and negotiations. F. W. de Klerk, who led South Africa from 1989 to 1994, was the last president of the apartheid-era regime and the one who started the process that dismantled apartheid. He lifted the ban on the ANC and other liberation groups, released Nelson Mandela in 1990, and opened negotiations that led to a new multiracial democracy and the first democratic elections in 1994. These actions directly challenged the system of racial segregation and built the path to its end. Mandela is central to ending apartheid and became the first Black president after the transition, but de Klerk was the last apartheid-era leader who initiated the reforms that made that transition possible. Steve Biko was a noted anti-apartheid activist who died long before any presidency and is not connected to a presidency. Haganah is unrelated to South Africa and the end of apartheid.