The Republic of South Africa became independent in 1961, and its first president was Pieter Willem Botha.

On January 12, 1916, Botha was born into a wealthy white Dutch family in the Orange Free State, South Africa. His father participated in the "Boer War" against the British colonists. During the war, the farm of Botha's mother's family was burned down by the British army and his mother was imprisoned. Like many other white Dutch people, his sense of independence and sense of belonging to the land of South Africa are deeply ingrained in his heart. After 300 years of colonization and settlement, white Dutch people have long regarded South Africa as their "god-given gift." home".

Botta showed a stubborn and aggressive character when he was young. He dropped out of college when he was 20 and joined the right-wing nationalist party "Kuomintang". In 1948, as the National Party came to power in South Africa, Botha was elected to the National Assembly. From this year onwards, the Kuomintang began to comprehensively construct the apartheid system in South Africa. Botha later held a number of important government positions, including deputy home minister, defense minister and prime minister.

Botha is known for his tough, power-playing style of governance. When black people rose up to fight for political rights, he strengthened the state apparatus to suppress ruthlessly and instigated conflicts among black tribes to divide and disintegrate them. He once famously said when he was prime minister: "We either adapt (to the situation) or perish." However, this sentence seems to be more of an excuse for him to consolidate his personal power.

The Botha government established a tricameral Congress in 1983. The white minority in the population controls legislative power and the vast majority of government power; Indians and other people of color can only The community only has legislative power in matters of law; black people, who make up the majority of the population, have no say in the government. The constitutional changes further consolidated Botha's personal power. In 1984, he became South Africa's first president.

After 1984, black riots swept the country, and Botha declared a state of emergency. Tens of thousands of people were arrested, tortured and even killed. The South African government declared dozens of organizations such as the anti-apartheid African National Congress illegal in the name of "terrorist organizations", closed many newspapers and periodicals, and imposed sanctions on the African National Congress in Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, etc. members of the country conduct secret attacks. There are reports that Botha personally ordered the torture and assassination of ANC members, and the notoriety of the "Big Crocodile" spread throughout the world.

The Botha government's hardline stance and repressive activities in South Africa have aroused strong dissatisfaction from the international community. Western countries, led by the United States and Britain, imposed large-scale economic sanctions and political isolation on South Africa. But South Africa's rich gold and diamond deposits are enough to sustain the government for many years. When economic sanctions were at their peak, South Africa's arms industry was very developed. Not only was it able to support its own army, it even participated in Israel's secret plan to develop nuclear weapons.

In July 1989, under domestic and international pressure, Botha met with ANC leader Nelson Mandela, who had been imprisoned for 27 years. Mandela later recalled: "It was said that he was a stubborn man who was unwilling to talk to black leaders. I made up my mind at that time that if he treated me in some disrespectful way, I must let him know that this behavior was How unpopular." But to Mandela's surprise, Botha smiled and shook his hand. "That was the first time I felt that he didn't have any hostility towards me."

However, negotiations broke down and Botha still refused to release Mandela. Later that year, Botha suffered a minor stroke and was forced to resign. As soon as Botha's successor, Federic de Klerk, took office, he quickly began to dismantle apartheid, legalize the African National Congress and other anti-apartheid political parties, free Mandela, and held South Africa's first congress in 1994. Multiracial general election. As a result, Mandela was elected South Africa's first black president.

In 1998, Botha was accused of participating in the bombing of the headquarters of the African Council of Churches ten years earlier and was found in contempt of court for refusing to testify before the Peace and Reconciliation Commission. As late as earlier this year, he insisted he was not a racist, saying, "I have nothing to apologize for. I will never beg for a pardon, not now, not tomorrow, not ever."

< p> On October 31, 2006, local time, 90-year-old Pietwilem Botha died of a heart attack at his home in Heathland Village, West Cape, South Africa.

On October 31, Mandela expressed condolences to Botha in a statement. He said, "For many people, Botha remains a symbol of apartheid. But we should also remember his initial work in achieving the final peace agreement in South Africa."

November 8 , Mbeki and de Klerk led a number of government officials to attend Botha's funeral held in a church in George Town. Some ordinary people gathered outside the church to demonstrate, saying they would never forgive Botha. Botha’s old friend, an evangelical pastor from Jordan, called for reconciliation in his funeral sermon: “Either you bury the past, or the past buries you.

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