First Cabinet of P. W. Botha

First Botha Cabinet
6th Cabinet of the Republic of South Africa (since the 1961 Constitution)
1978–1984
Pieter Willem Botha (1962)
Date formed	9 October 1978 (1978-10-09)
Date dissolved	3 September 1984 (1984-09-03)
People and organisations
State President	Johannes Vorster (until 1979) Marais Viljoen (from 1979)
Prime Minister	Pieter Willem Botha
Member party	National Party
Status in legislature	Majority
Opposition party	Progressive Federal Party
Opposition leader	Frederik van Zyl Slabbert
History
Election	1981 election
Legislature terms	5 years, 10 months and 25 days
Predecessor	Vorster III
Successor	Botha II

When Pieter Willem Botha first became Prime Minister of South Africa in 1978, he appointed members of the National Party to positions in his first cabinet.

Cabinet

Portfolio	Minister	Party	Period
Prime Minister	Pieter Willem Botha	NP	1978–1984
Vice President (abolished 1984)	Alwyn Schlebusch[1]	NP	1981–1987
Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries	Hendrik Schoeman Sarel Hayward	NP	1978–1982 1982–1984
Minister of Constitutional Development	Christiaan Heunis	NP	1982–1984
Minister of Cooperation and Development	Piet Koornhof	NP	1978–1984
Minister of Defense	Pieter Willem Botha Magnus Malan	NP	1978–1980 1980–1984
Minister of Education and Training	Ferdinand Hartzenberg Dawie de Villiers	NP	1979–1982 1982
Minister of (National) Education	Gerrit Viljoen[2]	NP	1980–1984
Minister of Environment and Energy	Christiaan Heunis Frederik Willem de Klerk Braam Raubenheimer Cornelis van der Merwe Sarel Hayward	NP	1978–1979 1979–1980 1980 1981–1982 1982–1984
Minister of Finance	Owen Horwood[3]	NP	1978–1984
Minister of Foreign Affairs	Pik Botha[3]	NP	1978–1984
Minister of Health	Schalk van der Merwe	NP	1978
Minister of Home Affairs	Alwyn Schlebusch Christiaan Heunis Frederik Willem de Klerk	NP	1978–1980 1980–1982 1982–1984
Minister of Justice	Jimmy Kruger Alwyn Schlebusch Kobie Coetsee[2]	NP	1978–1979 1979–1980 1980–1984[4]
Minister of Labour	Fanie Botha	NP	1979–1983
Minister of Mining	Fanie Botha Frederik Willem de Klerk Pietie du Plessis Daniel Steyn	NP	1978–1979 1979–1982 1982–1983 1983–1984
Minister of Plural Development	Stephanus François Kotzé	NP	1980–1984
Minister of Police and Prisons Minister of Law and Order	Jimmy Kruger Louis le Grange	NP	1978–1979 1979–1984
Minister of Public Works	Louis Le Grange Andries Treurnicht	NP	1978–1979 1979–1980
Minister of Posts and Telegraphs	Henni Smit Frederik Willem de Klerk Lourens Munnik	NP	1978 1978–1979 1982–1984
Minister of Sport and Recreation	Piet Koornhof Frederik Willem de Klerk	NP	1978 1978–1979
Minister of Statistics	Andries Treurnicht	NP	1979–1982
Minister of Tourism	Louis Le Grange Andries Treurnicht	NP	1978–1979 1979–1980
Minister of Trade and Industry	Dawie de Villiers	NP	1980–1984
Minister of Transport	Lourens Muller Christiaan Heunis Hendrik Schoeman	NP	1978–1979 1979–1980 1980–1984
Minister of Water and Forestry	Braam Raubenheimer	NP	1978–1980
Minister of Welfare Minister of Health, Welfare and Pensions	Frederik Willem de Klerk Schalk van der Merwe Lourens Munnik Cornelis van der Merwe	NP	1978 1978–1979 1980–1982 1982–1984

References

1. Rotberg, Robert (2002). Ending Autocracy, Enabling Democracy: The Tribulations of Southern Africa, 1960–2000. Washington, D.C.: Brookings / World Peace Foundation. pp. 341. ISBN 978-0-8157-7583-6.
2. Rotberg, Robert (2002). Ending Autocracy, Enabling Democracy: The Tribulations of Southern Africa, 1960–2000. Washington, D.C.: Brookings / World Peace Foundation. pp. 333. ISBN 978-0-8157-7583-6.
3. Rotberg, Robert (2002). Ending Autocracy, Enabling Democracy: The Tribulations of Southern Africa, 1960–2000. Washington, D.C.: Brookings / World Peace Foundation. pp. 335. ISBN 978-0-8157-7583-6.
4. Sparks, Allister (1995). Tomorrow is Another Country: The Inside Story of South Africa's Road to Change. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-226-76855-7.