Former president PW Botha, who is to be laid to rest next week, will not have a state funeral, according to a spokesperson for the church where his memorial service is to be held. He died on Tuesday night at his home in the Western Cape.
The news follows a visit on Wednesday by Director General in the Presidency Frank Chikane to Botha’s wife Barbara at the couple’s home in the coastal town of Wilderness.
Drew de Kock, manager of the Dutch Reformed Church in George, where the memorial service will be held on November 8, said after the meeting that it would not be a state funeral.
The last person to have a state funeral in South Africa was African National Congress struggle stalwart Walter Sisulu, who was buried in Soweto in 2003.
Mrs Botha told the South African Press Association on Wednesday morning that her husband had not wanted a state funeral.
”He was not a man that looked for honour and glory,” she said.
The service, open to the public, will be followed by a private interment at Hoekwil, a settlement above Wilderness where Botha’s first wife, Elise, is buried. — Sapa