PW Botha is dead at age 90... I often argue that the man who ended aparheid was not Mandella but FW de Klerk. It took a lot of courage for de Klerk to look at his people and simply state it's over. History will sort that one out. As for Botha, I was trying to think of something good that could be said about the man and I came up with this: At least he was committed.

Mandela - who was freed in 1990 - later recalled going into the meeting with Botha thinking that he would see "the very model of the old-fashioned, stiff-necked, stubborn Afrikaner who did not so much discuss matters with black leaders as dictate to them".

But he said he found Botha holding out his hand and smiling broadly "and in fact, from that very first moment, he completely disarmed me". However, Botha refused to free Mandela and other prisoners.

In the 1990s, Botha was summoned to appear before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a panel set up by then President Mandela's government to probe abuses.

The panel concluded in 1998 that Botha was guilty of gross human rights violations.

Thousands were detained without trial during his presidency, while others were tortured and killed. However, he refused to apologise for apartheid.