Pik Botha, apartheid-era minister, dies in SA

JOHANNESBURG – Pik Botha, South Africa’;s foreign minister in the last years of apartheid, has died at the age 86.

Botha’;s son, Roelof, on Friday told South Africa’;s eNCA news outlet that his father died at his home after an illness.

Pik Botha was a prominent figure in the country’;s white minority government at the height of the struggle against apartheid that ended with all-race elections in 1994.

He defended the actions of his government but also recognized the need for change, becoming minister of mineral and energy affairs under Nelson Mandela, the anti-apartheid leader who became president.

– Nampa-AP