P. W. Botha

No Prime Minister before me has been attacked more viciously than I am today.

— P. W. Botha

Never in the history of this country have so few people done so much for so many without acknowledgement by the international community.

— P. W. Botha

Most blacks are happy, except those who have had other ideas pushed into their ears.

— P. W. Botha

The free world wants to feed South Africa to the Red Crocodile [communism], to appease its hunger.

— P. W. Botha

Our history is responsible for the differences in the South African way of life.

— P. W. Botha

Because you could not translate the word apartheid into the more universal language of English, the wrong connotation was given to it.

— P. W. Botha

I am sick and tired of the hollow parrot-cry of “Apartheid!” I’ve said many times that the word “Apartheid” means good neighbourliness.

— P. W. Botha

I am not against the provision of the necessary medical assistance to Coloured and natives, because, unless they receive that medical aid, they become a source of danger to the European community.

— P. W. Botha

The idea of an Afrikaner people as a cultural entity and religious group with a special language will be retained in South Africa as long as civilisation stands.

— P. W. Botha

Half a century ago in this court I was sworn in as the Member of Parliament for George. And here I am today … I am not better than General De Wet. I am not better than President Steyn. Like them I stand firm in my principles. I can do no different. So help me God.

— P. W. Botha

I never have the nagging doubt of wondering whether perhaps I am wrong.

— P. W. Botha

The white people who came here lived at a very much higher standard than the indigenous peoples, and with a very rich tradition which they brought with them from Europe.

— P. W. Botha

The people who are opposing the policy of apartheid have not the courage of their convictions. They do not marry non-Europeans.

— P. W. Botha

With the with\xaddrawal of Britain east of the Suez and the consequent vacuum caused in the Middle East, and the stocking of arsenals in some African states by Russia and China, the dangers threatening South Africa today are greater than ever before.

— P. W. Botha

It should be noted that refugees are crossing the border from southern Angola to South-West Africa – not the other way round. There is no aggression from our side.

— P. W. Botha

The United States needs a man at the helm who knows some psychology, who would know that you can't try to dictate to a people from abroad without stiffening their resistance.

— P. W. Botha

The Cubans are not in Africa out of love.

— P. W. Botha

No more mine-laying. No more murder. No more abduction of women and children. No more attacks on headmen. No more raids across the border. So long as these conditions do not exist there will be no withdrawal [from South-West Africa] of South African troops.

— P. W. Botha

I have been to Switzerland before but not to this [Paul Kruger's] house or to a Swiss bank.

— P. W. Botha

... I am not prepared to build the type of wall you built in Berlin. In South Africa we only build walls for houses.

— P. W. Botha

You could not claim for yourself that which you were not prepared to grant others.

— P. W. Botha

I am one of those who believe that there is no permanent home for even a section of the Bantu in the white area of South Africa and the destiny of South Africa depends on this essential point. If the principle of permanent residence for the black man in the area of the white is accepted then it is the beginning of the end of civilisation as we know it in this country.

— P. W. Botha

Many refugees – White, Brown and Black – flee to South Africa. Why? Here they know they have safety.

— P. W. Botha

Where in the whole wide world today can you find a more just society than South Africa has?

— P. W. Botha

The fact is that the Westminster system has not worked anywhere in Africa – not even in England because the Scots and Welsh are moving away from it.

— P. W. Botha

It's a psychological onslaught, an economic one, a diplomatic one, a military onslaught – a total onslaught.

— P. W. Botha

There is not an Indian community in the world that is better off than the Indians in South Africa. That is the type of apartheid that I stand for. That is the type of apartheid that is not dead.

— P. W. Botha

Accept where I am going or I will not lead you.

— P. W. Botha

I hate no black man. I hate no brown man. The same God that made me put them there too. My God is not only for Afrikaners.

— P. W. Botha

Mandela has overstepped the mark. He has broken the law. The judiciary of this country has put him where he belongs according to the rules of democracy.

— P. W. Botha

We do not know what tomorrow will bring. We are not prophets. This is a step in the dark. We can only proceed into the future with faith.

— P. W. Botha

The acceptance of vertical differentiation with the built-in principle of self-determination must apply on as many levels as possible.

— P. W. Botha

The security and happiness of all minority groups in South Africa depend on the Afrikaner. Whether they are English- or German- or Portuguese- or Italian-speaking, or even Jewish-speaking, makes no difference.

— P. W. Botha

We are a strong country in a rather sick world. … Our problems are not so much racial as radicals wish to make them.

— P. W. Botha

I have come to the realisation and conviction that the struggle in South Africa is not between White, Black and Brown, but between Christian civilized standards and the powers of chaos.

— P. W. Botha

We do not want chaos in South Africa.

— P. W. Botha

We dare not see ourselves as a chosen people. We are called people - called to a particular task, just as every nation is a called people.

— P. W. Botha

There is only one element that can break the Afrikaner … and that is the Afrikaner himself.

— P. W. Botha

The Republic of South Africa has a new formula under the National Party's leadership: black nations can get freedom without firing shots or revolution.

— P. W. Botha

We do not force people to move to new homes, we coerce them. [Some believe he meant to say "convince"]

— P. W. Botha

The separation of races happened long before the Nationalist Government. God separated the races.

— P. W. Botha

I am tired of constantly hearing how guilty the Afrikaner and the National Party are and the time has come that this myth be crushed.

— P. W. Botha

I believe we are today crossing the Rubicon, Mr Chairman. In South Africa there can be no turning back. I have a manifesto for the future of our country and we must engage in positive action in the months and years that lie ahead.

— P. W. Botha

Lord Milner had, in the forced Peace of Vereeniging ensured that there was to be no franchise for black people after the introduction of self-government – which was never intended. It was only after half a century that an Afrikaner government started doing something about black rights.

— P. W. Botha

Knowing [Mandela] will start up with violence again, I, as a responsible head of state, must release him so that he can carry on with his violence, and then arrest him? What a nonsensical argument.

— P. W. Botha

South Africa is not a jellyfish and is in many respects a swordfish.

— P. W. Botha

Our enemies latched unto the word "apartheid" and in a very sly manner transformed it into the strongest weapon in the onslaught against freedom and civilization in our country.

— P. W. Botha

Unfortunately [South Africa] has been badly repaid for her loyalty because the West has expelled her from the family circle while befriending the most dictatorial regimes on Earth.

— P. W. Botha

Nelson Mandela can rot in prison until he dies or I die, whichever takes longer.

— P. W. Botha

I want to warn young people who lend their ears to radicals and who play around with the music from Lusaka - they will end up inside the bear's fur coat, but they will no longer be able to live.

— P. W. Botha