Randolph There is so much hate surrounding the death of PW Botha (see related link), former president of South Africa, and generally considered the last apartheid leader.
Now, here's my two cents' worth.
PW Botha, the "big crocodile", was a scary man. He was a very large part of my early life (I was born around two years before he became president), and we were scared of him.
1986 was a landmark year for old PW, with the State of Emergency, the increase in sanctions, the lame Rubicon speech, the disinvestment of multinationals (or in the case of certain hypocrites, rebranding), the police and army raids on townships, and so on.
We were also scared of the ANC.
People are now criticising the current ANC-led government for offering a state funeral for the old man. I say "where's the harm in that?".
A state funeral represents many things. What I think the government is saying, is that we cannot forget the past. Giving an ex-president a state funeral signifies that we remember him, whether good or bad, for what he represented.
As a student of history, I feel that the government is taking the correct approach. I do NOT support PW Botha and what he stood for, but I DO support the idea of remembering him. In so doing, we remember what got South Africa to where it is today.
Now all we have to do is fix the education problem, and South Africa will be just perfect. Everything to do with crime, poverty and HIV/AIDS stems from education. PW Botha was to blame for that.
Don't EVER forget him.