Pik Botha

Pik Botha

Roelof Frederik "Pik" Botha (born 27 April 1932, in Rustenburg, Transvaal) is a former politician from South Africa who served as the country's foreign minister in the last years of the apartheid era. He was considered to be a liberal - at least in comparison to others in the ruling National Party and among the Afrikaner community.

He is not related to late contemporary National Party politician P. W. Botha, under whom he served as South Africa's foreign minister.

Botha was nicknamed 'Pik' (short for 'pikkewyn', Afrikaans for 'penguin') due to a perceived likeness to a penguin in his stance. This was accentuated when he wore a suit. He is the father of the rock musician Piet Botha. His grandson is Roelof Botha, former CFO of PayPal.