Pw botha biography
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P. W. Botha
Leader of South Africa from to
Not to be confused with Pik Botha.
Pieter Willem Botha, DMS (BOOR-tə,[1]Afrikaans pronunciation:[ˈpitərˈvələmˈbuəta]; 12 January – 31 October ) was a South African politician. Nicknamed 'Die Groot Krokodil' (Afrikaans for 'The Big Crocodile') due to his tough political stance,[2][3] he was the head of government of South Africa from to , serving as the last prime minister of South Africa from to and the first executive state president of South Africa from to
First elected to Parliament in , 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 after suffering a stroke and six months later was also coerced to leav
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CAPE TOWN Jan 7 - SAPA
FIRST APARTHEID PRESIDENT TO FACE CRIMINAL PROSECUTION
TRC deputy chairman Dr Alex Boraine made a late appeal on onsdag på engelska 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
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Pieter Willem Botha
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 (–). 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 Mi