Word: botha
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...week had started in South Africa on a somewhat hopeful note, when Bishop Tutu requested a meeting with State President P.W. Botha. Almost immediately Botha replied that he was too busy to see Tutu privately and suggested that the bishop might be included in a group of church leaders who would be calling on him on Aug. 19. Translation: the Botha government considers Tutu an enemy and is not prepared to grant him any special recognition as the leading emissary of the black community. "By requesting talks with the State President, I am putting my credibility on the line," replied...
...black townships of the Johannesburg area and the eastern Cape, rioting erupted in townships surrounding the port city of Durban in Natal province, taking an additional 54 lives. But as the week ended, the country was alive with speculation that the white minority government of State President P.W. Botha was on the verge of making concessions that might, for the first time, affect the essential framework of apartheid. The entire country, and many other governments as well, was caught up in the rumors that Botha may announce a package of unprecedented reforms this Thursday when he addresses the Natal provincial...
Pressure on the South African government has been rising steadily. In the past two months, the U.S. and a dozen West European nations have withdrawn their ambassadors for consultations, a deliberate gesture of disapproval. The Botha government's state of emergency has been denounced throughout the world. Last week, as he prepared to leave for a trip to seven black African countries, Pope John Paul II declared that South Africa's policy of apartheid was weighing on "the conscience of mankind," adding, "Our repugnance toward any form of racial discrimination is absolute and total...
Late in the week, South Africa's Foreign Minister Roelof F. ("Pik") Botha met in Vienna with six Reagan Administration officials, including National Security Adviser Robert McFarlane and Chester Crocker, the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. U.S. officials refused to disclose precisely what was said at the meeting, which was called at South Africa's request and lasted for five hours. Certainly it included a review of the current state of emergency and the general situation in South Africa. According to U.S. sources, the meeting was blunt and serious in tone. American representatives emphasized the need for Pretoria...
More recently, Buthelezi canceled an invitation to Botha to visit KwaZulu after the President reiterated that he would not endorse Buthelezi's proposal for a federation. Botha reportedly was miffed, but Buthelezi seemed undaunted. "The forces demanding the politics of negotiation are mounting," he says. "Sooner or later the politics of negotiation will become a reality...