Wife finds PW dead in bed

2006-10-31 22:57

Johannesburg - Hein Marx, a friend of former state president PW Botha, said there had been no indication on Tuesday during the day that anything was amiss.

Botha's wife, Barbara, found him dead in bed just after 20:00 on Tuesday night.

Marx said: "Everything basically happened quite peacefully."

He said Botha's death was "a shock to us".

"He was very very healthy, except for two weeks ago when he felt a bit sick and a bit bad."

He said Botha's eldest daughter Elanza Maritz, who lived in George with her doctor husband, and his son, Rossouw, who lived on a smallholding in the area, were with Mrs Botha on Tuesday evening along with a Dutch Reformed Church minister.

He said he assumed Botha's daughter Rozanne, who lived in Cape Town, and his other son, Pieter, in Pretoria, would also be making their way to Wilderness.

Botha's first wife, Elize, is buried in a graveyard at an NG Church on a hilltop above The Wilderness.

Botha was 90.

- SAPA