Pierre Dietrichsen
Meintjeskop Koerier Volume II, 1994
Many of my colleagues have had a longer
direct association with Minister Pik Botha than I have and I write these lines
realising that I would possibly contribute very little not already said by
someone else. Nevertheless. with time marching on and the Minister now at a
neighbouring Ministry. a bit of nostalgia might be in order.
The first time I heard the name Pik Botha
was. almost inevitably. in the context of my reading of the World Court Cases
on Namibia. Little did I realise that I would one day work ."at his
side". Then came the general elections
and the famous smile was all over the lamp posts and trees of Pretoria and
after that it was Pik Botha, MP. Shortly after that I joined the Department and
got to know several colleagues who had worked with him on the SW A-case. as
they called it. They spoke in admiration of his stamina and ability to read and
reread papers long after midnight without tiring.
My first personal experience came in New
York. Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Hilgard Muller was leading. the
delegation of SA to the General Assembly with Pik Botha, Dirk Mudge and and
other politicos such as Lennox Sebe, if my memory serves me well. as members
apart from Departmental and Mission staff. It was 1973 and already the
credentials question was hotly discussed.
I remember how strongly Mr Botha
argued for firm action. both in the Assembly and in the lobbies. By the way.
this was an important session for China and Germany too apart from the fact
that Henry Kissinger made a speech in his deep voice which was not easy to
forget! Pik Botha was clearly at home in that theatre of operations and I think
his long friendships and associations with people like Kissinger started there.
But I could also see that colleagues such as Carl von Hirschberg. who was Permanent
Representative. Jim Steward. Hermatm Hanekom, Derek Auret and Dawie Gericke had
a healthy respect for the MP with the quick smile but the uncompromising desire
for good results and high standards. I was a "temporary" member and
could almost choose when to be absent. if you know what I mean!
When Pik Botha became our Minister of
Foreign Affairs in 1977. I was at Head Office. Shortly after that I was posted
to Paris where the Minister soon visited for talks. Late one evening. . after
meetings and a cocktail. Ambassador Louis Pienaar and Jeremy Shearar had
already left when the Minister decided his team should go out for dinner to be
able to face up to the hectic programme of the next day! I was the only Embassy
staff member around and so it came to pass that a mere First Secretary had to
entertain the Minister.
The Secretary of Foreign Affairs. Brand Fourie, decided
that he had had enough to eat and sat out. After some hurried telephone calls
to find a restaurant prepared to accommodate some ten people for dinner on the
wrong side of 11 p.m .we left from the Rafael Hotel in the 16th arrondissement
for the Gauloise in the 15th. Luckily my instinct had given me the foresight to
keep the cars waiting until the last moment! It was a relatively short drive
but still took some ten minutes.
The Restaurant was not a very inspiring sight
close to midnight (few Parisian restaurants are. some would say) and this. together with
the inconvenience of the trip through Paris traffic. caused the Minister to
severely question my sanity. Before entering. I was sure I heard the words
"Kafee op Petrussteyn" and something
about "ure se ry in die middemag", but. I must add, my objective was
to get in there to tell my acquaintance, the "maitre" that the dinner
was "big stuff'.I think he read it on my face because he was extra
charming, but. to no avail, all in French! Man, did I interpret and invent!
By
the time the snails were three minutes late, the party was ready to abandon the
outing It took some convincing to stay and 'voila!', the snails arrived. Our
visitors had expected a dozen on a plate but this man did things in style; a
plate full each with the most delicious sauce caused a silence at the table
that had me wondering! By the time the fillet arrived the best Bordeaux had done its magic, the Restaurant
was a different place. The punchline is this: Pik Botha expects quality and
when he gets it he recognises it I was complimented on my knowledge and my
judgement I personally thought my tenacity was way up in
the A's. Some more visits followed over the next four years and I really matured in the job!
On my return to Head Office in 1982, I
joined the staff of Mr Hans van Dalsen, the Director-General. We were closely
involved in negotiations with Angola about the withdrawal of the Cuban troops
and the meetings with Mozambique to reach agreements on matters of mutual
concern. The first number of meetings took place at Komatipoort at the Motel near the border post,
The airstrip near the town at times became a true international airport!
Delegations on both sides were normally substantial
and colleagues and I had our hands full with logistics.
I wrote minutes until late at night
many times. What impressed me then was
the fact that Pik Botha never looked at
my notes; yet he remembered every word and
nuance used by the other delegation weeks and months Iater and used them
effectively. This contributed to the confidence built up over months between
the sides.In this context; I personally experienced the Minister's stamina.
After a long day of talks. the Minister requested us to arrange dinner at the
Castle for the two delegations.
This is where the Nkomati agreement was formally
taking shape. Late at night when he sensed that agreement was near, the
Minister suggested that the politicians continue political negotiations while
the "experts" take leave to a backroom to come up with a fine-tuned
text. Adv. Jan Heunis, Les Manley, I and others then toiled away while the
Ministers talked about future relations. Soon after that we witnessed a classic
Pik Botha move; when the text was agreed on it was time to arrange the signing ceremony. Pretoria and other venues were
suggested but the Minister thought only
one place was symbolically suitable; Komatipoort.
Somebody mentioned three
weeks as a suitable delay but the Minister thought a week was enough to arrange it so, just about the whole
Africa branch. Protocol and several others got to work with the help of other
departments to create a Pik Botaa-inspired temporary village on the banks of
the Nkomati to sign the accord some ten days later with full military pomp and
a five-course lunch for hundreds in
tents and train coaches. The Minister's
drive and original thinking certainly inspired his colleagues and got officials
to adopt a "can- do" attitude. I think a few were exhausted in the
process but Pik Botha thrived! It was March 1984 and I spent my birthday at
Komatipoort
Several commentators of note have written
on meetings with Angolan delegations on Ilha do Sal and I shall not venture
into detail. What was impressive was the ability of the Minister to arrive with
SAA flights to Europe around 01hOO and after very little sleep, keep the nose
to the grindstone all day just to leave again at the same ungodly hour at night
in time to report to Cabinet at 09hOO the next morning in Cape Town.
A number
of other Cabinet Ministers and officials aged a lot in those days: "Omtrent op hierdie stadium is ek aangese te
sluit om by die Ministerie met mnr Hans
van Dalsen se aftrede. Hierdie artikeltjie is oor Pik Botha maar ek dink dit is
heeltemal in orde om te noem dat Hans van Dalsen een van die Ambassadeurs en
persone is vir wie ek net die hoogste agting het ' n Werklike goeie rolmodel as
mens en diplomaat! Hy het as Direkteur-generaal die Minister uitstekend aangevul. Net soos mev
Helena Botha 'n rol vervul het wat nie onderskat moet word nie.
"Na 'n tyd by die Minister het dit tyd geword
om weer te probeer vir 'n pos. Even Rieken bet tot hulp gekom en nadat die
Minister oorreed is dat 'n plaasvervanger vir my in die naam van Hennie de
Klerk net nommerpas was, was ek op pad Tokio toe. Oor die sakie onthou ek 'n
paar gesprekke, onder andere by 'rt'klein afskeidspanytjie vir my. Dit het so
verloop: "Pierre, moet julle nou gaan?" PD: "Ek dink so
Minister, ek is al amper vier jaar terug op Hoofkantoor."
"Mev Pat D:
"Ons geld is gedaan .Minister, ons is vrek arm." Minister: "Ja
nee, dan is dit erg. Les, Ons mense moo meet geld kry op Hoofkantoor. Praat met
Even, ons moet 'n plan maak, regtig. Ons kan nie so aangaan nie." Dit was
nog 'n ding van Pik Botha wat 'n mens bybly; sy menslikheid wat hy soms op die
onverwagte oomblik getoon het, selfs in 'n tyd van spanning en drama.
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