{{Infobox_President 
| name= Pieter Willem Botha
| image=
| imagesize=173px
| order=9th State President of South Africa
| term_start=September 3 1984
| term_end=August 15 1989
| predecessor=Marais Viljoen 
| successor=Frederik Willem de Klerk
| birth_date=
| birth_place=Orange Free State
| death_date=
| death_place=Wilderness, Western Cape
| party=National Party
| order2= Prime Minister of South Africa
| term_start2=September 28 1978
| term_end2=September 14 1984
| predecessor2=B. J. Vorster
| successor2=Position Abolished
}}

'''Pieter Willem Botha''' (prime minister of state president from 1984 to 1989. Botha was a long-time leader of National Party and a staunch advocate of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and was fined and given a suspended jail sentence for his refusal to testify in relation to human rights violations. 

He was not related to contemporary National Party politician Roelof Frederik "Pik" Botha, who served as his foreign minister.

==Early life==
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 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. He initially attended the Paul Roux School and matriculated from Voortrekker Secondary School Bethlehem, South Africa. In 1934, P.W. Botha entered the Grey University College (now the University of the Free State) in Bloemfontein to study law, but left early at the age of 20 in order to pursue a career in politics. He began working for the National Party as a political organiser in the neighbouring Cape Province. 

In the years leading to German Afrikaner nationalists in the Christian nationalism instead, and condemned the Ossewabrandwag, charging it with "interference" in national politics <ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/01/world/africa/01botha.html P. W. Botha, Defender of Apartheid, Is Dead at 90], ''New York Times'', 1 November, 2006</ref>

In 1943, Botha married Anna Elizabeth Rossouw (Elize), and the couple had two sons and three daughters.

==Parliamentary career==
Botha was first elected to national parliament from the town of George in the Southern cape, as a member of the National Party in 1948 at the beginning of the party's more than four decade tenure in power. In 1958 Botha was appointed Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs by Hendrik Verwoerd. He was appointed defence minister by Prime Minister B.J. Vorster in 1966. When Vorster resigned in 1978, Botha was elected as his successor by parliament.

Though generally considered a conservative, Botha was also seen as far more pragmatic than his predecessor. He was keen to promote constitutional reform, and hoped to implement a form of federal system in South Africa that would allow for greater "self-rule" for black homelands (or Bantustans), while still retaining the supremacy of a white central government. 

On becoming prime minister, Botha initially retained the defence portfolio until October 1980, when he appointed chief of the apartheid government, though unpopular, was crucial to stemming the tide of African Portuguese colonies obtained independence.

In the 1980s he began a secret nuclear weapons program in collaboration with draft was implemented to enforce compulsory military service for white South African men.

==State President==

In 1983 Botha proposed a new constitution, which was then put to a vote of the white population. Though it did not implement a federal system, it created two new houses of parliament, one for Indians (House of Delegates), along with that for whites-only (House of Assembly). The new Tricameral Parliament theoretically had equal legislative powers but the laws each new house passed were effective solely in its own community. Control of the country was maintained by the white house. The plan included no chamber or system of representation for the black majority. 

The new constitution also changed the state president of South Africa under the newly approved constitution. 

Implementing the presidential system was seen as a key step in consolidating Botha's personal power. In previous years he had succeeded in getting a number of strict laws that limited freedom of speech through parliament, and thus suppressed criticism of government decisions.  

In many western countries, such as the Commonwealth there was much debate over the imposition of economic sanctions in order to weaken Botha and undermine the white regime. By the late 1980s &ndash; as foreign investment in South Africa declined &ndash; disinvestment began to have a serious effect on the nation's economy.

==Apartheid regime==
In some ways, Botha's application of the apartheid system was less repressive than that of his predecessors: interracial marriage &ndash; which had been banned &ndash; was legalised, and the constitutional prohibition on multiracial political parties was lifted. He also relaxed the Group Areas Act, which barred non-whites from living in certain areas. In 1983, constitutional reforms granted limited political rights to Coloureds (South Africans of mixed white and non-white ancestry) and Indians. Late in his term, he became the first South African government leader to authorise contacts with imprisoned ANC leader Nelson Mandela. However, on the central issue of ceding power to blacks, he would not budge. In the face of rising discontent and violence, he imposed greater security measures such as states of emergency and state-sponsored covert action against anti-apartheid activists. He also steadfastly refused to negotiate with the African National Congress.

Typical of his rule was his 1985 rand. The following year, Botha declared a nation-wide state of emergency.

Thousands were detained without trial during his presidency, while others were tortured and killed. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission found him responsible for gross violations of human rights<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,,1936843,00.html]Dan van der Vat. ''Guardian'' Obituary. November 2, 2006.</ref>. It also found that he had directly authorised 'unlawful activity which included killing.'<ref>[http://www.info.gov.za/otherdocs/2003/trc/3_1.pdf]Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa. (2003) ''Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa Report'', Vol. 6, Section 3, pp. 252-3, para. 326 (e), 327, and 328.</ref> However, he refused to apologise for apartheid. In an interview to mark his 90th birthday he suggested that he had no regrets about the way he ran the country.<ref>[http://www.mweb.co.za/home/?p=portalfeatures&i=58414 The Groot Krokodil speaks], ''MWeb'', 2 November, 2006</ref>  He denied, however, that he had ever considered Black South Africans to be in any way inferior to whites, but conceded that "some" whites did hold that view.  He also claimed that the apartheid policies were inherited from the British colonial administration in the Eastern Cape and Natal Province, implying that he considered them something he and his government had followed by default.

thumb|PW Botha

'''Pieter Willem Botha''' (Oranje-Freistaat); † Provinz Westkap), in Südafrika allgemein bekannt als „''P. W.''“ oder – wegen seiner hartnäckigen Verfolgung politischer Gegner – als ''„Die Groot Krokodil“'' (//, das große Krokodil), war Premierminister Südafrikas von 1978 bis 1984 und Staatspräsident der Republik Südafrika von 1984 bis 1989.

== Leben ==
Botha war stets ein Anhänger der südafrikanischen Nationalpartei (NP) und ein standfester Verteidiger der Rassentrennung sowie des Apartheidsystems. Seit 1936 Mitglied der Partei, ließ er sich 1948 zum Generalsekretär der NP in der Kap-Provinz aufstellen, um als Leiter der Wahlkampfkampagne des Jahres mitentscheidend für den Wahlsieg der seitdem für vier Jahrzehnte regierenden NP zu werden. So wählte man auch ihn ins Parlament, der bereits 1958 im Kabinett von Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd die Position des stellvertretenden Innenministers einnahm. 1966 wurde Botha Vorsitzender der Partei in der Kap-Provinz und Verteidigungsminister. Schließlich fand seine politische Karriere ihren vorläufigen Höhepunkt, als 1978 der damalige Premierminister Balthazar Johannes Vorster zurücktrat, woraufhin er dessen Nachfolger wurde.

Durch die Überarbeitung der südafrikanischen Verfassung 1984 unter seiner Federführung entstand ein Präsidentenamt mit starken exekutiven Befugnissen, das Botha selbst einnahm.
Unter seiner Präsidentschaft verfolgte Südafrika eine Atomwaffenprogramm in Zusammenarbeit mit rassistischen Diktator verurteilten. In zahlreichen Staaten wie USA und Handelssanktionen, um das Apartheidregime Bothas zu schwächen.

Dennoch war, auf die eine oder andere Weise, die Innen- und Apartheidspolitik Bothas in vielen Dingen moderater als die seiner Vorgänger. Er legalisierte die Ehe zwischen verschiedenen „Rassen“, die zuvor verboten war und lockerte den ''indischen ''Fremdarbeiter'' aus der Kolonialzeit, ein Minimum an politischen Rechten. Botha blockierte jedoch alle Pläne, den schwarzen Südafrikanern das volle politische Stimmrecht zu geben. So war er dann auch nur aus ökonomischen Gründen bereit, jene für ihn mehr unpolitischen Folgen der Apartheid als Kompromiss zu lockern – am zentralen Aspekt der Rassentrennung und der weißen Minderheitsregierung ließ er jedoch keinen Zweifel aufkommen.

Es gilt als erwiesen, dass Botha in den 1980er-Jahren Bombenattentate auf die Hauptquartiere des Südafrikanischen Kirchenrates in Auftrag gegeben hat <ref name="TRC">BBC: [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1998/10/98/truth_and_reconciliation/203927.stm ''TRC findings: PW Botha''.], 29.&nbsp;Oktober 1998.</ref>. Die Staatsführung vermutete dort ein geheimes Büro des African National Congress (ANC) und des Gewerkschaftsdachverbandes.

Bothas im Ganzen kompromisslose Politik polarisierte seine eigene Partei, die daraufhin in verschiedene Flügel gespalten wurde. Nach einem Schlaganfall im Februar 1989 trat er im August desselben Jahres zurück. Daraufhin wurde der moderatere Frederik Willem de Klerk zum Präsidenten gewählt.