Pik, ANC differ on Thatcher

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was an "attractive" woman, who did more to help South Africa to "get rid of apartheid" than any other leader in her time, former foreign affairs minister Pik Botha said yesterday.

Thatcher died yesterday following a stroke. She was 87.

Botha, who served as the last foreign minister of the apartheid government, said while Thatcher was a staunch opponent of apartheid, she "listened", and "understood" the issues that South Africa faced in abolishing it.

"She and [US President] Ronald Reagan did more to move South Africa to get rid of apartheid and towards a new constitution than any other leader outside the country," said Botha, who served in the first post-apartheid government from 1994 to 1996 under President Nelson Mandela. He joined the ANC in 2000, but later criticised some of its policies.

The ANC's tribute to Thatcher differed sharply from Botha's in its assessment of her role in the dismantling of apartheid.

Though acknowledging that she was a major leader on the world stage, the ruling party said: "The ANC was on the receiving end of her policy in terms of refusing to recognise the ANC as the representatives of South Africans and her failure to isolate apartheid after it had been described as a crime against humanity."

Botha met Thatcher in the early 1970s when he and other officials were invited to the UK. He later had several run-ins with her, when the two countries clashed on issues such as the Falklands war and the deportation of the "Coventry Four", a group of South Africans arrested in London while attempting to smuggle arms to South Africa.

But, said Botha, "she helped me in so many ways to keep South Africa going internationally".

He remembers a "historically critical moment", on April 1 1989 - the day UN Resolution 435 was to have been implemented in then South West Africa (Namibia). The resolution was a UN-adopted proposal for a ceasefire between the South African Defence Force and the People's Liberation Army of Namibia, and a UN-supervised election in the country.

"[Thatcher and I] met at Windhoek Airport and we heard that Swapo had come over the [Namibia/Angola] border in their thousands, heavily armed," said Botha.

"Our troops were contained in their barracks, and she said [that] under no circumstances were we allowed to release them to fight the incursion. But she then helped me persuade UN Secretary-General Pérez de Cuéllar to allow the SADF troops to fight the incursion. If our troops weren't freed to repel them then South West Africa would not have gone to elections peacefully," said Botha. "Her death saddens me tremendously," he added.

ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu said: "Her tenure as prime minister redefined British politics and public administration and these impacted greatly on European politics and governance. Long after her passing on, her impact will still be felt and her views [will be] a subject of discussion."

Former president FW de Klerk said Thatcher was a steadfast critic of apartheid. But, he added: "She consistently, and correctly, believed that much more could be achieved through constructive engagement with the South African government than through draconian sanctions and isolation." - Additional reporting by Sapa

IN HER OWN WORDS

"I don't think there will be a woman prime minister in my lifetime." - as Education Secretary in 1973. She became Britain's first woman prime minister in 1979.

Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope." - Quoting St Francis of Assisi, on her 1979 election victory.

"I am not a consensus politician. I'm a conviction politician." - 1979

"I don't mind how much my ministers talk, as long as they do what I say." - 1980

"We had to fight the enemy without in the Falklands. We always have to be aware of the enemy within, which is much more difficult to fight and more dangerous to liberty." - On the 1984-85 miners' strike, which provoked some of the fiercest union opposition to her policies.

"To those waiting with bated breath for that favourite media catch phrase, the U-turn, I have only one thing to say: You turn if you want to. The lady's not for turning." - At the 1980 Conservative Party conference to colleagues urging her to soften her economic policies which were raising unemployment.

"This is a day I was not meant to see." - To reporters the day after surviving a deadly 1984 Irish Republican Army bomb attack on the Conservative Party conference.

"We have become a grandmother." - On the birth of her first grandchild, 1989.

"No! No! No!" At the House of Commons in 1990, the climax of an anti-European outburst that moved Geoffrey Howe to quit as deputy prime minister and deliver a resignation speech which called for her to be challenged for her job.

"I fight on, I fight to win." - In November 1990, after failing to win enough votes to avoid a second round in the Conservative leadership contest. She resigned the next day.

"It's a funny old world." - On her decision to quit in 1990. - Reuters