P. W. Botha Quotes

39 Sourced Quotes

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

P. W. Botha
Many refugees - White, Brown and Black - flee to South Africa. Why? Here they know they have safety.

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

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

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

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
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
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
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