Apartheid leader P. W. Botha Resigns

Date: 2 Feb 1989
Updated: 1 Feb 2020

<p> Former South African President P.W. Botha, 1998 <a href='https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-safrica-botha/s-african-ex-president-p-w-botha-dies-idUKL3145517120061101' target='_blank'> Source: Reuters/Mike Hutchings</a></p> — Former South African President P.W. Botha, 1998 Source: Reuters/Mike Hutchings

P. W. Botha suffers a mild stroke and, on this day he announces his intention to resign the National Party presidency while remaining State President. His resignation shocks his colleagues and leads to an internal succession process in the party that culminates in the appointment of F. W. de Klerk. P.W. Botha presided over South Africa when violence and state suppression of resistance movements was at its height. Leading scholars in the field of civil-military relations came to call South Africa a praetorian state because under his leadership the Security Council and the military became far more involved in the daily running of the state.

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01 Boddy-Evans A. Biography of PW Botha, Apartheid Era President Part 3 from About African History [online] Availabele at: https://africanhistory.about.com [Accessed on 7 Febbruary 2013]
02The guardian PW Botha Former leader of South Africa, committed to state terrorism and murder to stop majority rule [online] Available at:https://www.guardian.co.uk [Accessed on 7 february 2013]

Last updated · 1 Feb 2020

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2011, March 16). Apartheid leader P. W. Botha Resigns. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012804

South African History Online (2011) 'Apartheid leader P. W. Botha Resigns', South African History Online, 16 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012804 (Accessed: 16 August 2026).

South African History Online, Apartheid leader P. W. Botha Resigns [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012804, (accessed 16 August 2026).

"Apartheid leader P. W. Botha Resigns." South African History Online, 16 Mar. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012804. Accessed 16 Aug. 2026.

South African History Online. "Apartheid leader P. W. Botha Resigns." South African History Online. March 16, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012804.