P. W. Botha
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Pieter Willem Botha (January 12 1916 - October 31 2006), commonly known as "P.W." and Die Groot Krokodil (Afrikaans for "The Big Crocodile"), was prime minister of South Africa from 1978 to 1984 and state president from 1984 to 1989. Botha was a long-time supporter of South Africa's National Party and a staunch advocate of racial segregation and the apartheid system; however, he engineered a loosening of some of the government's most stringent racial policies toward the end of his career.
Early life
Botha was born in the Paul Roux district of the Orange Free State, the son of Afrikaner parents. His father, also named Pieter, fought in the Second Boer War (1899–1902). In 1934, P.W. Botha entered the Grey University College (now the University of the Orange Free State) in Bloemfontein to study law, but left early at the age of 20 in order to pursue a career in politics. He began working for the National Party as a political organiser in neighboring Cape Province.
Parliamentary career
Botha became a white supremacist organisation's press officer in 1946 and was first elected to parliament from the small southern coastal town of George, as a member of the National Party in 1948 and was appointed defence minister by prime minister B.J. Vorster in 1966. When Vorster resigned in 1978, Botha was elected as his replacement by parliament.
Though generally considered a conservative, Botha was also seen as far more pragmatic than his predecessor. He was keen to promote constitutional reform, and hoped to implement a form of federal system in South Africa that would allow for greater self-rule for black homelands, while still retaining the supremacy of a white central government.
As a former defence minister, Botha pursued an ambitious military policy designed to increase South Africa's military capability. As prime minister, he sought to improve relations with the West – especially the United States – but with mixed results. He argued that the preservation of the apartheid government, though unpopular, was crucial to stemming the tide of African communism, which had made in-roads into neighboring Angola and Mozambique after these two former Portuguese colonies obtained independence.
In the 1980s he began to develop a secret nuclear weapons program in collaboration with Israel. He also remained steadfast in South Africa's administration of the neighboring territory South-West Africa, particularly while there was a presence of Cuban troops in Angola to the north. Botha was responsible for introducing the special forces counter-insurgency unit, koevoet. South African intervention in support of the rebel UNITA movement in the Angolan Civil War continued until the early 1990s and was dependent upon the withdrawal of Cuban troops. To maintain the nation's military strength, a very strict draft for white South African males was implemented in 1981 [dubious – discuss] which essentially made provision for all adult males to be called upon to perform compulsory military service.
State President
In 1983 Botha proposed a new constitution, which was then put to a vote of the white population. Though it did not implement a federal system, it created two new houses of parliament, one for Coloureds (House of Representatives) and one for Indians (House of Delegates), along with that for whites-only (House of Assembly). The new Tricameral Parliament theoretically had equal legislative powers but the laws each new house passed were effective solely in its own community. Control of the country was maintained by the White house. However, the new constitution also changed the executive branch, abolishing the post of prime minister and instead creating a strong, executive presidency with expanded powers. The presidency and cabinet had sole jurisdiction over areas deemed to be of "national" responsibility, such as foreign policy and race relations. Though the new constitution was criticized by the black majority for failing to grant them any formal role in government, many international commentators praised it as a "first step" in what was assumed to be a series of reforms. In 1984, Botha was elected as the first state president of South Africa under the newly approved constitution.
Implementing the presidential system was seen as a key step in consolidating Botha's personal power. In previous years he had succeeded in getting a number of strict laws that limited freedom of speech through parliament, and thus suppressed criticism of government decisions.
Botha's authoritarian style of leadership made him unpopular in certain western countries, and many condemned him as a cruel, racist dictator. In many western countries, such as the United States, the United Kingdom (where the Anti-Apartheid Movement was based) and the Commonwealth there was much debate over the imposition of economic sanctions in order to weaken Botha and undermine the white-minority regime. By the late 1980s – as foreign investment in South Africa declined – divestment began to have a serious effect on the nation's economy.
Apartheid regime
In some ways, Botha's application of the apartheid system was less repressive than that of his predecessors: interracial marriage – which had been banned – was legalized, and the constitutional prohibition on multiracial political parties was lifted. He also relaxed the Group Areas Act, which barred non-whites from living in certain areas. In 1983, constitutional reforms granted limited political rights to Coloureds (South Africans of mixed white and non-white ancestry) and Indians. However, on the central issue of granting political rights to blacks and ending white supremacy, he would not budge. In the face of rising discontent and violence, he imposed greater state repression such as states of emergency and state-sponsored covert action against anti-apartheid activists. He also steadfastly refused to negotiate with the African National Congress.
Typical of his rule was his 1985 "Crossing the Rubicon" speech, a policy speech in which Botha was widely expected to announce new reforms. Instead, he refused to give in to pressure for concessions to the black majority including the release of Nelson Mandela. His defiance of international opinion in this speech led immediately to further isolation of the country, calls for economic sanctions to be applied and a rapid decline in the value of the rand. In that year, Botha also declared a state of emergency.
Botha's downfall
Botha's uncompromising policies greatly polarized his own party's views and eventually led to feuding within the National Party. In February 1989, he suffered a mild stroke and, caving in to cabinet pressure, resigned. The conservative-moderate Frederik W. de Klerk became state president later that year. Within months of the collapse of the Berlin Wall, de Klerk had announced the legalization of anti-apartheid groups – including the African National Congress – and the release of Nelson Mandela. De Klerk's rule saw the dismantling of the apartheid system and negotiations that eventually led to South Africa's first racially all-inclusive democratic elections on April 27 1994.
Retirement
Botha and his second wife Barbara retired to their home, Die Anker, in the town of Wilderness, close to the city of George and located inland just a few miles from the Indian Ocean coast in the Western Cape. He remained largely out of sight of the media. In some circles it was believed that he remained opposed to many of F W de Klerk's reforms. He refused to testify at the new government's Truth and Reconciliation Commission for exposing apartheid-era crimes, which was chaired by his cultural and political nemesis, Archbishop Desmond Tutu. In August 1998 he was fined and given a suspended jail sentence for his refusal to testify in relation to human rights violations and the violence sanctioned by the State Security Council (SSC) which he, as president until 1989, had directed.
Personal life and death
In 1943, Botha married Anna Elizabeth Rossouw (Elise), and the couple had two sons and three daughters. After Elise's death in 1977, he later married Barbara Robertson on June 22 1998.
In 1989 Botha suffered a stroke which left him partially paralyzed on the left side of his body.
Botha, aged 90, died at his home on 31 October 2006.
He was not related to contemporary National Party politician Roelof Frederik "Pik" Botha, who served as his foreign minister.
References
- The Mandela Document, dated prior to Mandela's release
- TRC findings: P W Botha, dated after Mandela's release
- "Fighter and Reformer: Extracts from the Speeches of P. W. Botha", Compiled by J.J.J. Scholtz, Published: Bureau for Information, Pretoria, 1989
- Former South Africa leader dies - BBC News
- The life and times of PW Botha - IOL