Colin Eglin, South African opposition leader during apartheid era, dies after heart illness

JOHANNESBURG – Colin Eglin, a retired South African politician who opposed apartheid and sought to promote liberal democratic values during white rule, has died at the age of 88.

The South African Press Association reported Saturday that Eglin died in Cape Town after suffering a heart problem.

Eglin founded South Africa's Progressive Party in 1959 and later became leader of the opposition in the white-controlled parliament for part of the 1970s and 1980s. Apartheid ended when South Africa held its first all-race elections in 1994.

Eglin's political group was a forerunner of the opposition Democratic Alliance, which said in a statement that it is saddened by his death. It said he contributed to the end of apartheid and played a key role in drafting South Africa's post-apartheid constitution.