P.w. botha biography

Botha was born on the farm Telegraaf in the Paul Roux district of the Orange Free State, the son of Afrikaner parents. He was the only son of Pieter Willem senior (a widower with four children) and Hendrina Prinsloo/de Wet (a widow with five children). His father, also named Pieter, fought as a commando against the British in the Second Boer War (1899–1902). During the war his mother was interned in a British concentration camp.

Botha's early education was at Paul Roux. Later he attended secondary school in Bethlehem before entering the University of the Orange Free State in Bloemfontein to study law. It was here that his political career began. Initially he helped organize the National Party (NP) during by-election campaigns and also became campus branch chairman.

He was also a part-time reporter for Die Volksblad and a member of the Afrikaanse Nasionale Studentebond (National Afrikaans Student Association). At the age of twenty he delivered an address to Prime Minister Malan on his visit to the campus.

Malan was impressed and Botha was offered a post as party organizer in the Cape. He left the university before completing a degree in order to begin a full-time political career, a decision made when he was only 20 years old. He began working for the National Party as a political organiser in neighbouring Cape Province .

In the years leading to World War II, Botha sympathised with the German Nazi Party. In 1939 Botha, along with J. B. Vorster, helped to form the Cape Town branch of the Ossewabrandwag (Ox-wagon torch guard), where he served as a leader of the organisation. He was nearly interned by the military at one point, because of his pro-German stance. He became disillusioned with the Ossewabrandwag as a result of an internal split and, in August 1941, wrote a scathing letter to Die Burger attacking the organisation. He said that national socialism was ' volksvreemd ', meaning unknown, dangerous and contrary to the Christian natio

CAPE TOWN Jan 7 - SAPA

TRC deputy chairman Dr Alex Boraine made a late appeal on Wednesday for Botha to reconsider, saying the TRC would approach Kahn to withdraw charges should he agree to appear before the TRC.

The decision to prosecute follows a public battle of wills between Botha and the TRC, in which he failed three times to appear before the commission: initially because he was ill, but later because it was a "circus" and a "witchhunt" against apartheid leaders.

After his second refusal the TRC wanted to charge him but Kahn ruled the subpoena was flawed. Third time around, Botha defied another subpoena.

Kahn told a news conference earlier on Wednesday that in considering whether to proseucute, Botha's personal circumstances had weighed heavily on him.

"He is almost 82 years of age and no attorney-general in any civilised country lightly decides to prosecute a person of his age, especially given Mr Botha's medical history."

However, he had eventually decided that a prosecution was warranted in law and in the public interest.

Kahn said he had not bowed to any political pressures in deciding to prosecute, and had not consulted any politician or persons outside his office.

A summons would be served on Botha at his Wilderness home, ordering him to appear in the George Regional Court on January 23.

Botha's attorney Ernst Penzhorn told Sapa on Wednesday that Botha would accept service of the summons and would appear in court on January 23 to answer charges.

Penzhorn said his client had decided not to make any other public statements about the matter.

Boraine told reporters the TRC had hoped tha

Leader of South Africa from 1978 to 1989

Not to be confused with Pik Botha.

Pieter Willem Botha, DMS (BOOR-tə,Afrikaans pronunciation:[ˈpitərˈvələmˈbuəta]; 12 January 1916 – 31 October 2006) was a South African politician. Nicknamed 'Die Groot Krokodil' (Afrikaans for 'The Big Crocodile') due to his tough political stance, he was the head of government of South Africa from 1978 to 1989, serving as the last prime minister of South Africa from 1978 to 1984 and the first executive state president of South Africa from 1984 to 1989.

First elected to Parliament in 1948, Botha, an Afrikaner nationalist, was an opponent of black majority rule and international communism. However, his administration did make concessions towards political reform, whereas internal unrest saw widespread human rights abuses at the hands of his government. Botha resigned as leader of the ruling National Party (NP) in February 1989 after suffering a stroke and six months later was also coerced to leave the presidency.

In F. W. de Klerk's 1992 apartheid referendum, Botha campaigned for a No vote and denounced De Klerk's administration as irresponsible for opening the door to black majority rule. In early 1998, when Botha refused to testify at the Mandela government's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), he was supported by the Conservative Party, which had earlier contested his rule as the official opposition. For his refusal, he was fined and given a suspended jail sentence, which was overturned on appeal due to a technicality.

Personal life

Early life and education

Pieter Willem Botha was born on a farm in the Paul Roux district of the Orange Free State Province (now Free State Province), the son of Afrikaner parents. His father, Pieter Willem Botha Sr., fought as a commando against the British in the Second Boer War. His mother, Hendrina Christina Botha (née de Wet), was interned in