P. W. Botha

Pieter Willem Botha (12 January 1916 – 31 October 2006), commonly known as "P. W." and Die Groot Krokodil (Afrikaans for "The Big Crocodile"), was the prime minister of South Africa from 1978 to 1984 and the first executive state president from 1984 to 1989. First elected to Parliament in 1948, Botha was for eleven years head of the Afrikaner National Party and the South African government. Although a fierce opponent of black majority rule and Communism, his government did make concessions towards political reform, whereas internal unrest saw widespread human rights abuses on the hands of the government as well as the militant opposition. Botha resigned the party leadership in February 1989 after suffering a stroke and six months later...