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Former South Africa leader dies
PW Botha Botha: President at height of the anti-apartheid struggle Former South African President PW Botha has died at his home in the Western Cape at the age of 90 after 17 years in retirement. He died peacefully, said a member of his security
staff, Frikkie Lucas.
Botha, known by Afrikaaners as the Great Crocodile,
led white minority rule between 1978 and 1989 - during the height of the
anti-apartheid struggle.
He was succeeded by South Africa's last white
President, FW de Klerk, who led the country to multi-racial
elections.
The former president was regarded as a relic and
someone stuck in a bit of a time warp, says the BBC's Peter Biles in
Johannesburg.
He had recently been admitted to hospital for a
routine check-up and was then discharged.
The ruling African National Congress, which was
outlawed under Botha, was among the first to offer condolences.
"The African National Congress wishes his family
strength and comfort at this difficult time," it said in a
statement.
'No regrets'
During his rule, Botha defied international
criticism and refused to release Nelson Mandela, the country's most famous
political prisoner.
Botha was later summoned to appear before the Truth
and Reconciliation Commission, a panel set up by then President Mandela's
government to probe abuses.
In 1998 the panel concluded that Botha was guilty
of gross human rights violations.
Thousands were detained without trial during his
presidency, while others were tortured and killed. However, he refused to
apologise for apartheid.
Although some cosmetic reforms were introduced in
1983, allowing Indians and Coloureds into parliament, Botha made no headway in
terms of advancing political freedom.
He failed to satisfy those on either side of the
country's racial divide - or international opinion - and eventually resigned
after a power struggle within his cabinet.
He led a quiet life with his second wife Barbara in
a seaside resort in on the Western Cape coast for almost two
decades.
In a interview to mark his 90th birthday he
suggested that he had no regrets about the way he ran the country.
Mr Botha will be given a state funeral - the first
for more than 20 years.
The Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie" |
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