The former President of South Africa PW Botha died on October 31, 2006.
He was already out of the political scene when I visited South Africa for the first time in 1990 and FW de Klerk had accelerated the reform process. Botha was seen as stubborn in the face of irresistible change but in terms of negotiating the transition his obstinacy may have helped make things smoother in the long run.
I mean that in the sense that all parties to the final solution made compromises they may not have done otherwise if change had occurred faster. The end result is relative peace and stability in South Africa today.
My wife Juliet is related to Botha on her mother’s side. The maiden name of Juliet’s mum is Botha and they came from George, which is close to where PW Botha lived in retirement at Wilderness.
PW Botha was born on the farm Telegraaf in the Paul Roux district of the Orange Free State, the son of Afrikaner parents. His father, also named Pieter, fought in a commando against the British in the Second Boer War (1899–1902).
During the war his mother was interned in a British concentration camp. He initially attended the Paul Roux School and matriculated from Voortrekker Secondary School Bethlehem, South Africa.
