Botha Buried Amid Tributes and Censure

PW Botha, the unapologetic white leader of South Africa who sought to reform apartheid in an attempt to save it, was buried yesterday at a funeral attended by former foes, including the South African president, Thabo Mbeki.

The tributes paid to Pieter Willem Botha by Nelson Mandela and others have been hailed as evidence of the extent of reconciliation in South Africa.

But praise for the Afrikaner, who died aged 90, and the government's decision to honour him with flags at half mast, also drew strong criticism from those who said he had remained a racist and made no apology for the state-sanctioned murders and other crimes committed by his regime.

Botha was buried in the town of George in a wooden coffin decked with flowers at the funeral. Among 400 people at the service were former MPs from the National party, which ruled South Africa from 1948 until the end of apartheid 12 years ago, including some who then joined the African National Congress.

President Mbeki lost a son, brother and cousin during the struggle against apartheid, all believed killed by the state death squads. Yet he was magnanimous in the days before the funeral, describing Botha and the late ANC president, Oliver Tambo, as "partners in the creation of the peace of the brave that is our blessing".

Mr Mandela has played up what they saw as Botha's role in laying the ground for the end of apartheid after the two men met secretly during the 1980s.

But many who fought against apartheid said the tributes were misplaced since Botha had never apologised for the abuses of his 11-year rule.

South Africa's main trades union confederation, Cosatu, said of Botha: "His hands were stained with the blood of hundreds who were murdered during the struggle for democracy and liberation under his presidency."