| Time | Summary | |
| 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 ...more | Full Transcript and References |
| 02:40 | Die beginsel van een man een stem kan nie in Suid-Afrika werk nie [The principle of one man one vote cannot work in South Africa]. It can’t work because it didn’t work elsewhere in Africa. // I have applied self discipline during the past weeks and months. I’ve been lenient and patient. Don’t push us too far. Don’t push us too far in your own interests. | Full Transcript |
| 04:51 | My husband is a man with great compassion and very great feelings. | Full Transcript |
| 04:57 | Neither the international community at large nor any particular state will dictate to us what the contents of our political programme should be. We have to live in this country. We have nowhere else to go, therefore we ourselves shall find solutions to our problems and we will make them work. Let no one doubt this. | Full Transcript |
| 05:22 | This is my land, my native land. This is my South Africa. I’m not going to allow you to interfere in our internal affairs. Keep your hands out of South Africa. We will solve our problems in our own way. | Full Transcript |
| 05:42 | Dad is also a sensitive person; he can become very sad occasionally, especially when a pet or a friend that he’s very fond of dies. | Full Transcript |
| 05:50 | And to those who prefer revolution to reform I say that they will not succeed. They will not succeed. If necessary, we will use stronger measures, but they won’t succeed. | Full Transcript |
| 06:40 | Friday morning, 23 January 1998. PW Botha’s day in court had come. Photographers are waiting to catch Botha of taking his early morning customary walk outside his Wilderness mansion. | Full Transcript |
| 06:57 | In George, the local ANC is getting ready for their day of showing their anger and protest. // Comrades, if we were to put down all the crimes of PW Botha, this wall is too small. We left out Ashley Kriel, we left out District Six, we left out Sophiatown; we left out Cato Manor. We left out so many crimes, blatant crimes. | Full Transcript |
| 07:28 | There had been much speculation in newspapers about possible clashes between large numbers of right wingers and ANC demonstrators. The white people of George were holding their breath and the police were ready for anything. But when the first groups of chanting protestors arrived from the township they were clearly well disciplined. | Full Transcript |
| 08:07 | ‘Comrades, die dag is ‘n ander dag vir ons. Dit is ‘n seer dag vir ons wat onse mense in die verlede swaar getref het … wat sal vandag voor die hof verskyn. So comrades, ek sal laaik laat ons nie almal onder die bome staan nie. Ons moet saam wys dat ons het pyn van onse comrades wat in die verlede doodgemaak was deur die ou regime van PW Botha’ [Comrades, today is a significant day, our people have been heavily hit by the past … I would like us to show solidarity with our comrades who died under the PW Botha regime]. | Full Transcript |
| 08:59 | I’ve known Mr. Botha for so many years and his a good friend of mine. I thought it’s good that few of his friends turned up to be with him. // As the leader of the Conservative Party I have sympathy for Mr. Botha and I’m here to support him. | Full Transcript |
| 09:13 | Nothing came of the thousands of right wingers, only a handful turned up. // This is my flag. Nobody, Mandela to the grassroots people, will take it away. It’s my flag, it will stay with me. // Do you support PW Botha? // Too much. Let them touch him then they’ll see who the real Afrikaner is, regardless if he is DP or NP. He’s an Afrikaner. | Full Transcript |
| 09:53 | In fact there were far more members of the South African and international media than supporters of Botha. // Only a few friends and supporters of Botha, six media people and some ANC representatives were allowed inside the court where Botha had to face Magistrate Victor Lugaju, president of the Western Cape Regional Courts. He told Botha to appear again on the 23rd of February and that the trial would begin on 14 April. And then Botha held a press conference inside the court. | Full Transcript |
| 10:48 | Dames en here [ladies and gentlemen], can you all hear me? Those who can’t hear me put up your hand and salute me. I stand by everybody who executed legal government orders on our struggle against revolutionary communist onslaught against our fatherland which had to lead to anarchy. I stick to my view that I reject the humiliation of brave soldiers and policemen. They are not that bad. By day and night they kept the order in this country. I honour them. I salute them. | Full Transcript |
| 11:43 | And then it is all blamed on so-called apartheid. Read the books and the speeches written about me. Read my speeches in Parliament and you will see that this is a hollow cry, this parrot cry of apartheid. While I expressly stated in the open that apartheid is an Afrikaans word and can be easily placed, replaced by a proper positive term: good neighbourliness. Who’s laughing? // I said to Mr. Mandela, don’t awaken the tiger in the Afrikaner and I’m afraid they are busy doing it. | Full Transcript |
| 13:00 | They warned us, they warned SA, if we continue with the TRC, the tiger in the Afrikaner will be awakened. | Full Transcript |
| 13:12 | Why are you warning us? [unclear] // Every nation has a tiger in himself. The moment you attack the pride of a nation, you attack the cultural values of a nation, the deep beliefs of his existence and his self respect, that moment you awaken the tiger in him. // What’s the tiger going to do? // The tiger is all over the world and he is going to fight back. | Full Transcript |
| 13:38 | iTigers iNational Party; iTigers iAfrikaners. We are also going to organize the tigers of the people. | Full Transcript |
| 13:45 | But I’m not here to apoligise, that’s my point with the so-called Truth and Reconciliation Commission. They want me to apologise. I’m not prepared to apologise. | Full Transcript |
