Botha Vows to Stay on Job as S. Africa Leader

By SCOTT KRAFT

March 13, 1989 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — President Pieter W. Botha, ignoring calls from within his own ruling party to step aside for a younger chief of state, declared Sunday night that he intends to remain in office, perhaps as long as another year.

The 73-year-old president, in his first televised appearance since he suffered a mild stroke Jan. 18, said he is “not looking for power for the sake of power” and added, “I do not cling to posts.”

But, he said, “I am now healthy.

“I want to talk to fellow Cabinet members,” he added. “I want to talk to leaders of other population groups on South Africa’s future.” He said he will return to work Wednesday, when Parliament begins work on the annual budget.

Gave Up Party Leadership

Talk of early retirement for Botha began two weeks after his stroke, when he relinquished the post of National Party leader. The party caucus elected Frederik W. de Klerk, the 52-year-old education minister, to succeed Botha as party leader, effectively tapping De Klerk as the next president.

The selection of De Klerk, a conservative who is considered more flexible than the autocratic Botha, has been widely praised as the beginning of a more aggressive era of apartheid reform. Excited by the prospect of a De Klerk administration, pro-government newspapers and politicians have publicly and privately urged Botha to step aside.

The criticism marked a significant departure for the National Party. The president, a feared and respected man, has been virtually immune to criticism from within his party in the decade that he has been head of state.

Liberal white newspapers went even further. In an editorial last week, Business Day said that “the spectacle of President Botha clinging to high office like a 2-year-old to a toy has been so unedifying that it is hard to see how he can rescue much dignity.”

Several Afrikaans-language newspapers that traditionally support the government have praised De Klerk’s “new momentum for reform.” And last week more than 120 of the ruling party’s 133-member caucus reportedly asked Botha to step down and allow De Klerk to take over.

‘Sow Confusion’

But on Sunday, Botha dismissed reports that his party wanted him to retire, suggesting that they were the work of “forces seeking to sow political confusion.”

The president pointed out that he can remain in office until March, 1990, when Parliament must be dissolved and a new general election called. Botha can, however, call an election any time in the next year.

“It would be wrong to speak now of an election,” Botha said. “That is in the future.”

Many National Party members favor an early election because they believe it will allow the party to take advantage of the disarray among white liberals and, at the other end of the political spectrum, the difficulties facing the far-right white party in reinstituting petty apartheid through local town councils.

Botha bristled at the suggestion that De Klerk would be a more effective standard bearer for reforming apartheid.

“I originated the concept of reform,” Botha said, referring to his step-by-step program of dismantling apartheid. “And I still believe it should be pursued, with two conditions. I am for reform, but not handing over (power to the voteless black majority). I am for reform, but against the undermining of stability and order.”

Government opponents have criticized Botha’s reform efforts as being too slow.

Split Feared

Many National Party members have worried that friction already has developed between Botha and De Klerk, and they fear that disagreements as the two attempt to share political power will create a split in the party that has ruled South Africa for 40 years.

Botha denied that he “lives in conflict with Mr. De Klerk,” and added, “I have faith in him and I get on with him.”

The National Party’s clash with Botha has been front-page news in the country for several weeks. On Sunday, the Star newspaper said “Botha Stands Alone.” And in an editorial, the Star described Botha’s defiance as “quite irrational. The real interests of this country . . . are certainly more crucial than the quirks of a fading strongman reluctant to let go of power.”

More to Read

World & Nation

Scott Kraft

Scott Kraft is editor at large for enterprise journalism and special projects at the Los Angeles Times, where he oversees the Investigations department, standards and practices, polling and survey research projects, and newsroom-wide reporting initiatives. He works closely with departments across the newsroom to elevate series and is leading an initiative to actively develop books that are an outgrowth of Times’ expertise and original reporting, in partnership with commercial book publishers. During nearly four decades at The Times, Kraft has been managing editor, deputy managing editor/news and national editor, as well as a foreign and national correspondent. As an editor, he has directed work that won nine Pulitzer Prizes. As a reporter, he was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in feature writing while a New York-based national correspondent for the Associated Press before joining The Times in its Chicago bureau. He spent a decade abroad as The Times’ bureau chief in Nairobi, Johannesburg and Paris. He covered the release of Nelson Mandela and the end of apartheid as well as the ill-fated U.S. military mission in Somalia, among other major stories. His story for the Los Angeles Times magazine on the AIDS epidemic in Africa won the SPJ Distinguished Service Award for Foreign Correspondence. He has served as both a juror and chair of the Selden Ring Award for Investigative Reporting. He also was a Pulitzer Prize juror in international reporting in 2014 and subsequently chaired five Pulitzer juries – Public Service in 2015, International Reporting in 2020, Explanatory Reporting in 2021, Illustrated Reporting and Commentary in 2022 and Editorial Writing in 2023. He is currently president of the Overseas Press Club of America. Kraft was born in Kansas City, Mo., and has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Kansas State University.

Botha Vows to Stay on Job as S. Africa Leader

More to Read

More From the Los Angeles Times

Most Read in World & Nation