Anna Elizabeth Botha Explained

Anna Elizabeth Botha
Nationality:South African
Party:National Party
Office:First Lady of South Africa
Term Label:In role
Term Start:3 September 1984
Term End:15 August 1989
Preceded:Dorothea Viljoen
Succeeded:Marike de Klerk
Birth Name:Anna Elizabeth Rossouw
Birth Date:6 May 1922
Birth Place:Cape Town, Cape Province, South Africa
Death Place:Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
Children:5

Anna Elizabeth Botha (; 6 May 1922 – 6 June 1997) was the First Lady of South Africa, as the wife of State President Pieter Willem Botha, from 1984 to 1989. From 1978 to 1984 Botha served as Prime Minister of South Africa.

Anna Elizabeth Rossouw married Botha on 13 March 1943. She went by the name Elize, and was the daughter of a pastor from Senekal, Dr S.H. Roussouw.[1] They had two sons, Rossouw and Pieter Willem, and three daughters, Elanza, Amelia and Rozanne.[2]

Elize Botha had stayed quietly in the background as the First Lady of South Africa. She earned admiration from Nelson Mandela for helping to arrange a luncheon that Mandela and widows of apartheid-era leaders attended.[3]

She died on 6 June 1997 at the age of 75. She had suffered an aneurysm in 1978 but had been in good health since then.[4] [5]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Boddy-Evans. Alistair. Biography of PW Botha, Apartheid Era President. African History. 23 August 2012. 22 September 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120922134522/http://africanhistory.about.com/od/biography/a/BioPWBotha.htm. dead.
  2. News: Gregory. Joseph R.. P. W. Botha, Defender of Apartheid, Is Dead at 90. 23 August 2012. New York Times. 1 November 2006.
  3. News: Obituaries. 23 August 2012. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. 9 June 1997.
  4. News: Obituaries. 23 August 2012. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. 9 June 1997.
  5. Web site: ANNA BOTHA. Who's Who Southern Africa. 23 August 2012. 28 November 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171128154645/http://whoswho.co.za/elize-botha-30601. dead.