In 1996, Frederick Willem (F.W.) de Klerk flew to the Southern Cape.Evil Conspiracies

During a fiery meeting at his lagoon-side home Die Anker on the Wilderness, the second Executive State President of the Republic of South Africa would be angrily confronted by the host, his predecessor Pieter Wilhelm (PW) Botha (pictured).

In his autobiography published on this day in 1999, The Last Trek - A New Beginning de Klerk recounted the climax of his confrontation with Die Groot Krokodil (Afrikaans for 'The Big Crocodile') ~

"He received me politely but coolly and took me to his study.

I noticed there was a pile of books on his desk with bookmarkers at various places. He said there was something he wished to discuss with me, namely, what he called my membership of the New World Order.

He picked up some of the books on his desk and began to read me passages, here and there, to the effect that there was an evil conspiracy in the world called the New World Order.

He then referred to the joint press conference that I held with President Bush in the rose garden of the White House during my official visit to the United States in 1990. He said that when we had announced the new spirit of co-operation between the United States and South Africa which had flowed from our discussions, I had been bound¹ into the evil conspiracy by President Bush who, according to him, was a leading figure in the New World Order".

And yet the Republic of South Africa's foreign policy was due in no small part to Botha's own efforts in the 1980s to improve relations with the West - especially the United States. He had argued that the preservation of the apartheid government, though unpopular, was crucial to stemming the tide of African communism, which had made in-roads into neighbouring Angola and Mozambique after these two former Portuguese colonies obtained independence. Botha even began a secret nuclear weapons program in collaboration with Israel, which culminated in the production of six nuclear bombs².

When the Soviet Union blocked UN Resolution 661, a desperate United States was unable to build a coalition of the willing. President George H.W. Bush was forced to negotiate with Israel and South Africa who both provided token forces for the 1991 invasion of Kuwait. This unexpected turn of events would have profound implications for the statesmen of the New World Order.

On 4 December 2001³, the State President's wife Marike de Klerk was found stabbed and violently strangled to death in her luxuous Cape Town flat. De Klerk, who was currently on a brief visit to Stockholm, Sweden to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the Nobel Prize foundation, announced he would immediately return to mourn his dead wife. On 6 December, 21 year old security guard Luyanda Mboniswa was arrested for the murder. On 15 May 2003 he received two life sentences for murder as well as three years for breaking into Marike de Klerk's apartment.

Upon his death on 31 October 2006, fresh speculation linked Botha to the murder of Marike de Klerk. In truth, many South Africans harboured little doubt that Botha had also ordered the death in custody of Nelson Mandela, the head of the South African Communist Party⁴, who was murdered under identical circumstancs at Robben Island in 1986. It would take little persuasion to accept that Botha had pulled in a final favour from the security forces, to punish his successor for his act of betrayal.

Die Groot Krokodil had devoured his final victim.