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P. W. Botha

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I never have the nagging doubt of wondering whether perhaps I am wrong.

Pieter Willem Botha (January 12, 1916 – October 31, 2006), commonly known as "PW", was the prime minister of South Africa from 1978 to 1984 and the first executive state president from 1984 to 1989.

Quotes

"Apartheid" means good neighbourliness.
  • The people who are opposing the policy of apartheid have not the courage of their convictions. They do not marry non-Europeans.
    • As MP of George, House of Assembly, 7 September 1948, as quoted in Dictionary of South African Quotations, Jennifer Crwys-Williams, Penguin Books, 1994, p. 251
  • It should be noted that refugees are crossing the border from southern Angola to South-West Africa – not the other way round. There is no aggression from our side.
    • As Minister of Defence, denying shelling of southern Angola by the SADF, 9 November 1976, as cited in PW Botha in his own words, Pieter-Dirk Uys, 1987, p. 63
  • The United States needs a man at the helm who knows some psychology, who would know that you can't try to dictate to a people from abroad without stiffening their resistance.
    • As Minister of Defence, interviewed in the New York Times, 28 October 1977
  • The Cubans are not in Africa out of love.
    • As Minister of Defence, 22 January 1978, Beeld
  • No more mine-laying. No more murder. No more abduction of women and children. No more attacks on headmen. No more raids across the border. So long as these conditions do not exist there will be no withdrawal [from South-West Africa] of South African troops.
    • As Prime Minister to the House of Assembly, 8 March 1979, as cited in PW Botha in his own words, Pieter-Dirk Uys, 1987, p. 65
  • I have been to Switzerland before but not to this [Paul Kruger's] house or to a Swiss bank.
    • On a European tour as Prime Minister, 31 May 1984, as cited in PW Botha in his own words, Pieter-Dirk Uys, 1987, p. 51
  • ... I am not prepared to build the type of wall you built in Berlin. In South Africa we only build walls for houses.
    • To a Voice of America journalist in Berlin during a European tour, 3 September 1984, as cited in Venture into the Exterior: Through Europe With P.W. Botha, John Scott, 1984
  • You could not claim for yourself that which you were not prepared to grant others.
    • As quoted in A Treasury of Quotations, Lennox-Short and Lee, Donker, 1991, p. 203
  • I am one of those who believe that there is no permanent home for even a section of the Bantu in the white area of South Africa and the destiny of South Africa depends on this essential point. If the principle of permanent residence for the black man in the area of the white is accepted then it is the beginning of the end of civilisation as we know it in this country.
    • Speaking to parliament on 11 May 1964 as Minister for Coloured Affairs, as cited in The Guardian, 7 February 2006
  • Many refugees – White, Brown and Black – flee to South Africa. Why? Here they know they have safety.
    • As Minister of Defence, House of Assembly, 1 September 1975, as cited in PW Botha in his own words, Pieter-Dirk Uys, 1987, p. 17
  • Where in the whole wide world today can you find a more just society than South Africa has?
    • As Minister of Defence, East London NP Congress, 6 May 1976, as cited in PW Botha in his own words, Pieter-Dirk Uys, 1987, p. 16
  • The fact is that the Westminster system has not worked anywhere in Africa – not even in England because the Scots and Welsh are moving away from it.
    • As Minister of Defence, Port Elizabeth NP Congress, 20 September 1976, as cited in PW Botha in his own words, Pieter-Dirk Uys, 1987, p. 49
  • It's a psychological onslaught, an economic one, a diplomatic one, a military onslaught – a total onslaught.
    • Speaking to the House of Assembly on 17 April 1978, as cited by Andrew Donaldson, Sunday Times, November 5, 2006
  • There is not an Indian community in the world that is better off than the Indians in South Africa. That is the type of apartheid that I stand for. That is the type of apartheid that is not dead.
    • As prime minister in the House of Assembly, 23 April 1979, as cited in PW Botha in his own words, Pieter-Dirk Uys, 1987, p. 40
  • Accept where I am going or I will not lead you.
    • Addressing the Transvaal NP Congress on 18 September 1979, as cited by Andrew Donaldson, Sunday Times, November 5, 2006
  • I hate no black man. I hate no brown man. The same God that made me put them there too. My God is not only for Afrikaners.
    • Addressing the Transvaal NP Congress on 18 September 1979, as cited in PW Botha in his own words, Pieter-Dirk Uys, 1987, p. 25
  • Adapt or die.
    • From his speech to parliament, October 1979
  • Mandela has overstepped the mark. He has broken the law. The judiciary of this country has put him where he belongs according to the rules of democracy.
    • As Prime Minister at a National Party meeting in Stellenbosch, 10 April 1980, as cited in PW Botha in his own words, Pieter-Dirk Uys, 1987, p. 85
  • We do not know what tomorrow will bring. We are not prophets. This is a step in the dark. We can only proceed into the future with faith.
    • As prime minister, introducing the 4th Amendment to the Constitution Bill, 23 May 1980, which envisaged a tricameral corporate federation. Cited in The Star, and Pieter-Dirk Uys, 1987, PW Botha in his own words, p. 27
  • The acceptance of vertical differentiation with the built-in principle of self-determination must apply on as many levels as possible.
    • Speaking to the House of Assembly on January 28, 1981, as cited by Andrew Donaldson, Sunday Times, 5 November 2006
  • The security and happiness of all minority groups in South Africa depend on the Afrikaner. Whether they are English- or German- or Portuguese- or Italian-speaking, or even Jewish-speaking, makes no difference.
    • Speaking to the House of Assembly on February 20, 1981, as cited by Andrew Donaldson, Sunday Times, 5 November 2006
  • We are a strong country in a rather sick world. … Our problems are not so much racial as radicals wish to make them.
    • As Prime Minister in a Business Week interview, USA, 4 April 1982, as cited in the Sunday Express, and Pieter-Dirk Uys, 1987, PW Botha in his own words, p. 15, 41
  • I have come to the realisation and conviction that the struggle in South Africa is not between White, Black and Brown, but between Christian civilized standards and the powers of chaos.
    • As prime minister, Warrenton, 24 July 1982, as cited in PW Botha in his own words, Pieter-Dirk Uys, 1987, p. 23
  • We do not want chaos in South Africa.
    • Explaining why cinemas were not open to all races, House of Assembly, April 21, 1983, as cited by Andrew Donaldson, Sunday Times, 5 November 2006
  • We dare not see ourselves as a chosen people. We are called people - called to a particular task, just as every nation is a called people.
    • As prime minister, on a Day of the Covenant rally in Hartenbosch, 16 December 1983, as cited in PW Botha in his own words, Pieter-Dirk Uys, 1987, p. 29
  • There is only one element that can break the Afrikaner … and that is the Afrikaner himself.
    • Speaking to the House of Assembly on 26 April 1984. Excerpt from a quote by Andrew Donaldson, Sunday Times, 5 November 2006
  • The Republic of South Africa has a new formula under the National Party's leadership: black nations can get freedom without firing shots or revolution.
    • As prime minister, Graaff-Reinet, 26 May 1984, as cited in PW Botha in his own words, Pieter-Dirk Uys, 1987, p. 35
  • We do not force people to move to new homes, we coerce them. [Some believe he meant to say "convince"]
    • Press conference in Switzerland on 2 June 1984, as cited by Andrew Donaldson, Sunday Times, 5 November 2006
  • The separation of races happened long before the Nationalist Government. God separated the races.
    • As prime minister to an Austrian journalist during a European tour, 3 September 1984, as cited in The Star, and Pieter-Dirk Uys, 1987, PW Botha in his own words, p. 24
  • I am tired of constantly hearing how guilty the Afrikaner and the National Party are and the time has come that this myth be crushed.
    • As state president, at the annual conference of the Afrikaner Studentebond, Stellenbosch, 15 April 1985, as cited in PW Botha in his own words, Pieter-Dirk Uys, 1987, p. 32
  • I believe we are today crossing the Rubicon, Mr Chairman. In South Africa there can be no turning back. I have a manifesto for the future of our country and we must engage in positive action in the months and years that lie ahead.
    • From his National Party Congress Speech in Durban on 15 August 1985
  • Lord Milner had, in the forced Peace of Vereeniging ensured that there was to be no franchise for black people after the introduction of self-government – which was never intended. It was only after half a century that an Afrikaner government started doing something about black rights.
    • As state president, unveiling a monument to Boer War victims at Delareyville, 10 October 1985, as cited in PW Botha in his own words, Pieter-Dirk Uys, 1987, p. 34
  • Knowing [Mandela] will start up with violence again, I, as a responsible head of state, must release him so that he can carry on with his violence, and then arrest him? What a nonsensical argument.
    • As State President in the House of Delegates, 23 April 1986, as cited in PW Botha in his own words, Pieter-Dirk Uys, 1987, p. 86
  • South Africa is not a jellyfish and is in many respects a swordfish.
    • Speaking to the House of Assembly on 28 April 1986, as cited by Andrew Donaldson, Sunday Times, 5 November 2006
  • Our enemies latched unto the word "apartheid" and in a very sly manner transformed it into the strongest weapon in the onslaught against freedom and civilization in our country.
    • As state president at a parade of the SA Police College, Pretoria, 20 June 1986, as cited in PW Botha in his own words, Pieter-Dirk Uys, 1987, p. 37
  • Unfortunately [South Africa] has been badly repaid for her loyalty because the West has expelled her from the family circle while befriending the most dictatorial regimes on Earth.
    • As state president in an interview with Figaro, Paris, 8 December 1986, as cited in The Star, and Pieter-Dirk Uys, 1987, PW Botha in his own words, p. 41
  • Nelson Mandela can rot in prison until he dies or I die, whichever takes longer.
    • Reportedly to Cape Town journalists in February 1987, though later denied. As cited by Andrew Donaldson, Sunday Times, 5 November 2006
  • I want to warn young people who lend their ears to radicals and who play around with the music from Lusaka - they will end up inside the bear's fur coat, but they will no longer be able to live.
    • At an election meeting in Pietermaritzburg on 30 April 1987, as cited by Andrew Donaldson, Sunday Times, 5 November 2006
  • No Prime Minister before me has been attacked more viciously than I am today.
    • At an election meeting in Pietermaritzburg on 30 April 1987, as cited in PW Botha in his own words, Pieter-Dirk Uys, 1987, p. 19
  • Never in the history of this country have so few people done so much for so many without acknowledgement by the international community.
    • As state president, referring to the ruling National Party House of Assembly, 17 August 1987, as cited in PW Botha in his own words, Pieter-Dirk Uys, 1987, p. 28
  • I feel more welcome among the black communities than I do among Coloureds
    • Upon the resignation of Allan Hendrickse from cabinet, as quoted by Michael Parks, Los Angeles Times[2], 25 August 1987
  • Most blacks are happy, except those who have had other ideas pushed into their ears.
    • As cited in Dictionary of South African Quotations, Jennifer Crwys-Williams, Penguin Books 1994, p. 53
  • The free world wants to feed South Africa to the Red Crocodile [communism], to appease its hunger.
    • As cited in Dictionary of South African Quotations, Jennifer Crwys-Williams, Penguin Books 1994, p. 90
  • Our history is responsible for the differences in the South African way of life.
    • As cited in Dictionary of South African Quotations, Jennifer Crwys-Williams, Penguin Books 1994, p. 183
  • Because you could not translate the word apartheid into the more universal language of English, the wrong connotation was given to it.
    • As cited in Dictionary of South African Quotations, Jennifer Crwys-Williams, Penguin Books 1994, p. 22
  • I am sick and tired of the hollow parrot-cry of “Apartheid!” I’ve said many times that the word “Apartheid” means good neighbourliness.
    • As cited in Country of My Skull, Antjie Krog, Random House, p. 270
  • I am not against the provision of the necessary medical assistance to Coloured and natives, because, unless they receive that medical aid, they become a source of danger to the European community.
    • As cited in Dictionary of South African Quotations, Jennifer Crwys-Williams, Penguin Books 1994, p. 244
  • The idea of an Afrikaner people as a cultural entity and religious group with a special language will be retained in South Africa as long as civilisation stands.
    • As cited in Dictionary of South African Quotations, Jennifer Crwys-Williams, Penguin Books 1994, p. 11
  • Half a century ago in this court I was sworn in as the Member of Parliament for George. And here I am today … I am not better than General De Wet. I am not better than President Steyn. Like them I stand firm in my principles. I can do no different. So help me God.
    • As cited in Country of My Skull, Antjie Krog, Random House, p. 270
  • I never have the nagging doubt of wondering whether perhaps I am wrong.
    • As quoted in Dictionary of South African Quotations, Jennifer Crwys-Williams, Penguin Books 1994, p. 285
  • The white people who came here lived at a very much higher standard than the indigenous peoples, and with a very rich tradition which they brought with them from Europe.
    • As cited in Dictionary of South African Quotations, Jennifer Crwys-Williams, Penguin Books 1994, p. 441

Quotes about Botha

  • President P.W. Botha’s notorious “Rubicon” speech on 15 August 1985 at the National Party Congress in Durban was probably one of the most significant speeches in the history of South Africa. It was supposed to break the political and military deadlock between the apartheid government and the banned liberation movements, notably the ANC. Botha was widely expected to announce new policies that could possibly have ended the political conflict in the country. However, that did not happen. Instead the speech was a total fiasco. ...the South African government and P.W. Botha were not ready for such policy breakthrough announcements and had never planned to make them.
    • Fanie Cloete in Resolving P.W. Botha’s 1985 Rubicon riddle, Historia 64 (2), November 2019, pp. 132‐155.
F.W. de Klerk: The main motivation was the expansionist policies of the U.S.S.R. in southern Africa. They were supporting all the [African] liberation movements—they were supplying weapons and training—and it was part of their vision to gain direct or indirect control over most of the countries in southern Africa. They financed the deployment of many thousands of Cuban troops, especially to Angola, and this was interpreted as a threat first by Prime Minister John Vorster, and following upon him P.W. Botha. [The nuclear arsenal] was never intended, I think, to be used. It was a deterrent. Because of apartheid South Africa was becoming more and more isolated in the eyes of the rest of the world. There wouldn’t be, in the case of Russian aggression or invasion, assistance from the international community. It was felt that, if we have nuclear weapons, and if we then would disclose in a crisis that we have [them], it would change the political scenario and the U.S.A. and other [Western] countries might step in and assist South Africa.
  • [From as early as 1979, P. W. Botha], in his capacity as president of apartheid South Africa, was the real architect of the secret talks that ultimately led to De Klerk’s historic announcement in February 1990. ... Nelson Mandela started the process of persuading [Kobie] Coetsee that the time was ripe for the government to talk to the ANC, and that he was prepared to lead the initiative in prison even before consulting Lusaka. ... Botha’s response was to ... commence secret talks with the ANC to explore possible negotiations with the enemy. ... The South African conflict had reached a stalemate [with] no possibility of victory for either side. ... It was in this toxic environment that Mandela and Botha rose to the occasion, both without a mandate. Mandela defied the ANC and engaged the enemy without a mandate because he knew that the hawks in the ANC would have stopped his initiative. Botha [authorised secret talks] without informing his Cabinet because it was too risky to do so. ... White voters still viewed the ANC as terrorists controlled by Moscow in the context of the Cold War. Reports of Botha talking to the ANC would have sunk him as leader of the National Party and president of South Africa.
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