Botha Remains Strong (South Africa: 1989-1997)

[Owen]

The year is 1989, South Africa is under immerse pressure to renounce Apartheid and give Namibia independence as a global shift towards the peaceful reconciliation of East and West leads to a decline in the "red scare" which propped South Africa's status as a country. The 18th of January 1989 saw State President P.W. Botha suffer a mild stroke, but after a few months of recovery he was back to normal with J. Christiaan Heunis taking the role as Acting State President. (This differs from real life where Botha resigned on August 14th after resigning as leader of the National Party on February 2nd and F.W. de Klerk became State President. All the reforms F.W. de Klerk did, did not take place). P.W. Botha continued his relentless campaign of Apartheid against the Black Majority of the population. Nelson Mandela remains in prison (was not released in 1990) on Robben Island and is growing older and frailer by the day and surely will not survive much longer in prison. Riots and civil unrest continues across the country and in the independent black homelands that remain in place since they were established in the 1970s and 1980s. The 1994 elections were not multiracial and remained segregated and only whites were allowed to vote. The 1992 referendum to allow the black majority the right to vote never occurred. F.W. de Klerk remains the State Vice President of South Africa those his resentment towards P.W. Botha's apartheid policies grows stronger by the day and rumblings within the National Party suggest that a coup will take place against Botha's presidency. The African National Congress, Pan Africanist Congress and South African Communist Party remained banned organisations in South Africa. With the re-emergence of Communist Russia and Ukraine, the will of the people to support apartheid has grown stronger as the "red scare" that was once lost has re-emerged.

One event which did take place was the independence of Namibia in 1990. Under immense pressure from the international community and a high casualty rate in the Border War, South Africa declared the full independence of Namibia under a SWAPO-led government. This has caused some disputes inside South Africa as it is seen as pushing the "Communists" further towards South Africa. With a re-emergence of the "red scare" from Eastern Europe, there have been calls to re-invade Namibia as international support may increase.

(Essentially, all events between 1989-1995 relating to the fall of Apartheid did not happen, all the events relating to the independence of Namibia did happen.)

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[Owen]

State President Botha would return from an extended sick leave of two years. He had a mild stroke which made him bed-ridden in his house in George which was located in the Southern Cape. He spent his two years recovering in George while F.W. de Klerk was Acting State President. He has since returned to the top job, determined more than ever to return Namibia to South Africa and to further develop the Bantustans. He has been particularly troubled by the developments in Zimbabwe and has said that Zimbabwe must be returned to white minority rule as the blacks have made a right shambles of the place. He's stated that ANC and Communist rebels continue to launch attacks into South Africa from neighbouring countries and in particular Zimbabwe due to its instability. He said South Africa will remain on its current path of white minority rule and will not be dictated to by the international community.

With his wife at his home in George.​

 

[Owen]

Botha Lives
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P.W. Botha would remain strong, having been State President now for nearly 20 years. He was starting to become frail and has had a stroke in the past year. He has begun the process of handing down the reigns of the State Presidency to F.W. de Klerk, his Vice State President. He has called for South Africans (white ones) to remain united and strong in the face of fierce opposition from the African National Congress and internal elements. He continues to plan to make several homelands independent alongside Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Ciskei and Venda. He notes that Africa is a relatively peaceful conflict and with South Africa as the dominant power in the region, it can remain that way. He has expressed his continued desire to reunite Namibia with South Africa after it gained its independence 9 years ago. He says the SWAPO and Namibian Government is undermining the stability in South Africa and continues to fund terrorist groups such as the ANC to launch attacks into South Africa.

He would be publicly seen for the first time since his stroke, attending a South African Police graduation parade.