Special Report Transcript Episode 79, Section 2, Time 01:26

PW Botha was not the architect of apartheid, but he was a fervent believer in separating races by force and rule by whites only. As a Cabinet Minister he was personally responsible for forced removals, among other places District Six. But Botha was the architect of destabilisation of neighbouring states and brutal raids across the borders and he was the architect of that vicious ideology of the 1980s, the total onslaught. It is a hard fact that the vast majority of human rights violations reported to the Truth Commission and the vast majority of crimes for which policemen and soldiers are asking amnesty, happened during PW Botha’s rule as prime minister and state president. A large number of his foot soldiers, officers and some of his cabinet colleagues have already appeared before the Truth Commission, but 82 year old Botha has called the Truth Commission a circus and refuses to appear to answer questions on his years in office. That refusal is a contravention of an Act of Parliament and he was formally charged. Before we tell you the whole story of the ‘groot krokodil’s’ day in court, let’s remind ourselves who this man was.

Notes: Max du Preez