A key figure during South Africa’s transition from the apartheid era, Pik Botha, has died at the age of 86.
Mr. Botha served as his country’s foreign minister for 17 years until the end of the apartheid era in 1994.
He spent most of his career defending the apartheid system, even though he was regarded as a liberal figure.
But he also served as a minister in Nelson Mandela’s first post-apartheid government, praising Mr. Mandela as a healing figure.
Mr. Botha’s son, Piet, confirmed to South African media that his father had died during the night.
Roelof Frederik Botha was born in 1932 in Rustenburg, Transvaal.
His nickname Pik comes from his resemblance to a penguin, or pikkewyn in his mother tongue Afrikaans. Read more