FW de Klerk, SA’s last apartheid-era president, died on Thursday after battling cancer, prompting tributes that reflected the often contradictory roles he played as one of the key figures of the country’s history.

The 85-year-old, who passed away at his Cape Town home on Thursday morning, is most remembered for a historic speech that paved the way for the unbanning of the ANC, the release of Nelson Mandela and the first all-race elections...