Political Perspective

Botha cannot be exonerated THE MAN who presided over the worst era of apartheid, PW Botha, died unrepentant this week.

He consistently denied any wrongdoing in his 10 years as head of state in South Africa from 1978 to 1989 and refused to apologise or express remorse or regret for the terrible wrongdoings that took place under his rule. Lest we forget, and apparently many already have, the thousands of political opponents of institutionalised racism who were killed, tortured or detained on his instructions.SOUTH African President Thabo Mbeki has been magnanimous in the extreme.The former dictator had earlier declined Mbeki’s offer of a state funeral, but the latter still instructed that flags be flown at half-mast yesterday, a move that has been damned as a “slap in the face” of victims of apartheid.I’m inclined to agree.Deputy Head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), Alex Boraine, described Mbeki’s decision as “grotesque”.”To fly the flags at half-mast for a man who did so much damage to this country leave a sour taste in the mouth,” he said.The big question in South Africa right now, therefore, is whether or not to honour the man who presided over one of the worst periods in southern African history.The ANC Youth League would have opposed a state funeral, so it is just as well Botha had declined the offer.But they supported the decision about the flags.”Let’s respect the man.He was a head of state.What he believed in and practised is another matter,” they said.I personally cannot comprehend this logic.Why is it that so many of us in Africa feel that it is our duty to “respect” a head of state, regardless of what history tells us about them or what crimes they’ve committed? Why do we try to sanitise people once they’re dead? Why should we respect the dead who failed to respect the living? Some white Namibians called us to condemn our ‘disrespect’ for publishing a cartoon of Botha on our front page this week.Perhaps they’re suffering from amnesia, but PW Botha and his ilk are largely the reason that this newspaper came into being, and we know full well many of the injustices, and indeed cruelties, he was responsible for.PW Botha, like it or not, was a hardliner.His life speaks for itself.In the build-up to World War II he was a Nazi sympathiser and Ossewabrandwag member who, in 1978, succeeded B J Vorster as Prime Minister and he justified the consolidation of apartheid rule and creation of bantustans as a fight against ‘communism’.In the 1980s along with Israel, he developed nuclear weapons.He was ultimately the creator of killer units like Koevoet in Namibia.He supported the excesses of the Unita in Angola and Renamo in Mozambique; he implemented conscription into the armed forces; in 1983 after adoption of a new constitution he consolidated his personal power into a strong executive in the form of a State President, and he became the first; he made deep inroads into freedom of speech and he sponsored covert action against anti-apartheid forces.He presided over the death, torture and detention of thousands of people.These are just some of the ‘highlights’ of his rule.And until the end he refused to acknowledge wrongdoing.Neither would he testify before the TRC or apologise to the victims of apartheid, despite appeals from the TRC Chair, Archbishop Desmond Tutu.Victims did not want revenge, simply explanations for why they had been brutalised.The TRC found him responsible, during his rule from 1978 to 1989, for gross human rights violations, including all violence sanctioned by the State Security Council, which he had headed.The apartheid system personified crimes against humanity, and Botha, as the head of state who presided over this, cannot be exonerated since he refused to even admit he did wrong.One of his henchmen, Adriaan Vlok, former Minister of Police, apologised for the wrongs he committed against many opponents of apartheid, including Frank Chikane, and is intent upon repentance, going to the extent of washing the feet of those he harmed.PW Botha needn’t have gone that far.But he certainly could have accounted for his actions to the people of South Africa and beyond, especially as the Christian he professed himself to be.Worst of all, he has died believing he did the right thing.And that would be the only reason to bemoan his death!Lest we forget, and apparently many already have, the thousands of political opponents of institutionalised racism who were killed, tortured or detained on his instructions.SOUTH African President Thabo Mbeki has been magnanimous in the extreme.The former dictator had earlier declined Mbeki’s offer of a state funeral, but the latter still instructed that flags be flown at half-mast yesterday, a move that has been damned as a “slap in the face” of victims of apartheid.I’m inclined to agree.Deputy Head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), Alex Boraine, described Mbeki’s decision as “grotesque”.”To fly the flags at half-mast for a man who did so much damage to this country leave a sour taste in the mouth,” he said.The big question in South Africa right now, therefore, is whether or not to honour the man who presided over one of the worst periods in southern African history.The ANC Youth League would have opposed a state funeral, so it is just as well Botha had declined the offer.But they supported the decision about the flags.”Let’s respect the man.He was a head of state.What he believed in and practised is another matter,” they said.I personally cannot comprehend this logic.Why is it that so many of us in Africa feel that it is our duty to “respect” a head of state, regardless of what history tells us about them or what crimes they’ve committed? Why do we try to sanitise people once they’re dead? Why should we respect the dead who failed to respect the living? Some white Namibians called us to condemn our ‘disrespect’ for publishing a cartoon of Botha on our front page this week.Perhaps they’re suffering from amnesia, but PW Botha and his ilk are largely the reason that this newspaper came into being, and we know full well many of the injustices, and indeed cruelties, he was responsible for.PW Botha, like it or not, was a hardliner.His life speaks for itself.In the build-up to World War II he was a Nazi sympathiser and Ossewabrandwag member who, in 1978, succeeded B J Vorster as Prime Minister and he justified the consolidation of apartheid rule and creation of bantustans as a fight against ‘communism’.In the 1980s along with Israel, he developed nuclear weapons.He was ultimately the creator of killer units like Koevoet in Namibia.He supported the excesses of the Unita in Angola and Renamo in Mozambique; he implemented conscription into the armed forces; in 1983 after adoption of a new constitution he consolidated his personal power into a strong executive in the form of a State President, and he became the first; he made deep inroads into freedom of speech and he sponsored covert action against anti-apartheid forces.He presided over the death, torture and detention of thousands of people.These are just some of the ‘highlights’ of his rule.And until the end he refused to acknowledge wrongdoing.Neither would he testify before the TRC or apologise to the victims of apartheid, despite appeals from the TRC Chair, Archbishop Desmond Tutu.Victims did not want revenge, simply explanations for why they had been brutalised.The TRC found him responsible, during his rule from 1978 to 1989, for gross human rights violations, including all violence sanctioned by the State Security Council, which he had headed.The apartheid system personified crimes against humanity, and Botha, as the head of state who presided over this, cannot be exonerated since he refused to even admit he did wrong.One of his henchmen, Adriaan Vlok, former Minister of Police, apologised for the wrongs he committed against many opponents of apartheid, including Frank Chikane, and is intent upon repentance, going to the extent of washing the feet of those he harmed.PW Botha needn’t have gone that far.But he certainly could have accounted for his actions to the people of South Africa and beyond, especially as the Christian he professed himself to be.Worst of all, he has died believing he did the right thing.And that would be the only reason to bemoan his death!