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P. W. Botha Quotes

1916–2006

Pieter Willem Botha (January 12, 1916 – October 31, 2006), commonly known as "PW", was the prime minister of South Africa from 1978 to 1984 and the first executive state president from 1984 to 1989.

Also known as: P.W. Botha, PW Botha, Pieter Willem Botha

Random P. W. Botha quote

49 quotes

I am tired of constantly hearing how guilty the Afrikaner and the National Party are and the time has come that this myth be crushed.

I never have the nagging doubt of wondering whether perhaps I am wrong.

I am sick and tired of the hollow parrot-cry of “Apartheid!” I’ve said many times that the word “Apartheid” means good neighbourliness.

Never in the history of this country have so few people done so much for so many without acknowledgement by the international community.

The Cubans are not in Africa out of love.

Where in the whole wide world today can you find a more just society than South Africa has?

Our history is responsible for the differences in the South African way of life.

It's a psychological onslaught, an economic one, a diplomatic one, a military onslaught – a total onslaught.

There is only one element that can break the Afrikaner … and that is the Afrikaner himself.

Most blacks are happy, except those who have had other ideas pushed into their ears.

South Africa is not a jellyfish and is in many respects a swordfish.

The acceptance of vertical differentiation with the built-in principle of self-determination must apply on as many levels as possible.

Because you could not translate the word apartheid into the more universal language of English, the wrong connotation was given to it.

The idea of an Afrikaner people as a cultural entity and religious group with a special language will be retained in South Africa as long as civilisation stands.

The free world wants to feed South Africa to the Red Crocodile [communism], to appease its hunger.

The Republic of South Africa has a new formula under the National Party's leadership: black nations can get freedom without firing shots or revolution.

I have been to Switzerland before but not to this [Paul Kruger's] house or to a Swiss bank.

Accept where I am going or I will not lead you.

The United States needs a man at the helm who knows some psychology, who would know that you can't try to dictate to a people from abroad without stiffening their resistance.

Our enemies latched unto the word "apartheid" and in a very sly manner transformed it into the strongest weapon in the onslaught against freedom and civilization in our country.

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: P. W. Botha (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.