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South Africa, 1948–94: From Apartheid State to ‘Rainbow Nation’

Botha’s decision to negotiate, 1985–89

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 2

Overview

Recall questions on total strategy and why it failed, the Rubicon speech, Cuito Cuanavale, the secret talks with Mandela, and the end of the Cold War.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Evaluation

What pushed the National Party towards negotiation?

Key term

What was Botha's failed strategy called?

Key term

What was Botha's total strategy?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Which leader was pushed towards negotiation in the mid-1980s?

    Model answer

    P.W. Botha.

  2. 2

    What was Botha's failed strategy called?

    Model answer

    The 'total strategy' of limited reform mixed with repression.

  3. 3

    What was Botha's total strategy?

    Model answer

    The mobilisation of every resource, military, economic and propaganda, against what he called a total onslaught by communism and the ANC.

  4. 4

    Why did total strategy fail?

    Model answer

    Its military element was expensive and unwinnable and its reforms were too small to satisfy anyone, so it lost both African acquiescence and hardline white support.

  5. 5

    What economic problems pushed Botha towards negotiation?

    Model answer

    The debt standstill, capital flight, the collapse of the rand, sanctions, and business leaders openly meeting the ANC in Zambia in 1985.

  6. 6

    What was the Rubicon speech?

    Model answer

    Botha's August 1985 address, expected to announce major reform, in which he refused to be pushed; the disappointment triggered the financial crisis.

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