Pik’s death buries historic secrets

Former foreign affairs minister Pik Botha passed away recently. He served in his post for 17 years, under three leaders.

Botha takes to his grave information around events that made international headlines (he was privy to sensitive information during National Party rule) — events like the nuclear test in 1979; the Helderberg crash that killed 159 people in 1987; the murders of Robert Smit and his wife Jean-cora in 1977; the death of president Samora Machel in 1986; and the assassinations of Dulcie September,

Anton Lubowski and many others.

[The truth about] many of these tragic events will never see the light of day: the roleplayers have passed on, the trails have gone cold, and top-secret documents were destroyed as democracy was born. The lesson is that we should never take freedom for granted — eternal vigilance is a small price to pay for freedom.