Word: botha
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Foreign Minister Botha and other South Africans at the meeting seemed genuine in their willingness to discuss alterations in the present system, though they were somewhat short on specifics. On Friday morning McFarlane reported to President Reagan on the trip. The Administration decided to remain noncommittal until it has a better idea of exactly what the South Africans have in mind. One concern is that Pretoria might appear to be seeking Washington's approval as a way of reducing international criticism of the state of emergency...
Thus the whirlwind of pressure was precipitating some sort of reappraisal. But the day of fundamental change has not yet arrived. The Botha government, even if it has revised its private notion of the national destiny, could have second thoughts. Certainly it will have trouble selling the idea of reform to rightwing South Africans. On previous occasions, South Africa has appeared ready to grant independence to Namibia, the territory also known as South West Africa, which Pretoria has ruled since 1920. Each time, however, the government has reconsidered: three months ago, it installed in Namibia a "transition" government that Pretoria...
...smiled thinly. When the prayer meeting was over, the bishop leaned forward to tell his staff about the previous afternoon at Daveyton. He said that during the funeral he had heard a joke about Louis Le Grange, South Africa's Minister of Law and Order, telling State President P.W. Botha that Bishop Tutu had committed suicide. Botha's astonished reply: "I didn't know you had detained...
...They are in a Catch-22 position when they say they won't talk until the unrest has been quelled. The unrest is not going to be quelled because apartheid is there. Botha has everything to gain from talking to blacks, because he could be saying to the world, "Look, I'm talking to these horrible people who are always criticizing me and who are anti-South African." The world would say, "Yes, Botha is reasonable, he does talk to his critics." We would have lost. I would be losing out too, because even to say I am willing...
...moment it seemed that the South African government had made a significant concession to world opinion. State President P.W. Botha had partly lifted the state of emergency that for the past three months has suspended civil liberties in some of the areas hit by protest. But it turned out that Botha's order affected only six districts, all relatively rural and quiet, of the 36 areas given emergency status. Then Botha took away with one hand what he had given with the other: he extended the emergency measures to eight more districts, including, for the first time, riot-racked Cape...