Roelof Frederik “Pik” Botha

Roelof Frederik “Pik” Botha was born in Rustenburg in 1932 and studied arts and law at the University of Pretoria. He entered the foreign service in 1953, with postings in Stockholm and Cologne before joining South Africa’s legal defence of its rule over South West Africa at the International Court of Justice. He became the department’s legal adviser and entered Parliament for the National Party in 1970. ²

Botha moved to Washington in 1975, combining the ambassadorship with service as South Africa’s permanent representative at the United Nations. He assumed his Washington duties on 30 July and presented credentials on 3 September. During the negotiations over Rhodesia’s future, he joined American and British officials considering an international economic fund to support a political settlement. The October 1976 talks considered potential donors, proposed World Bank management, and possible assistance with resettling emigrants in South Africa. ^{5, 3, 1, 4}

Appointed foreign minister in 1977, Botha held the office for seventeen years. Near the end of that period, he visited India in November 1993 as the two countries restored diplomatic relations after four decades. He then served in Nelson Mandela’s first government as minister of mineral and energy affairs from 1994 until May 1996. Botha died in Pretoria on 12 October 2018. ^{5, 6}