Gen. Louis Botha, soldier, statesman and first prime minister of the Union of South Africa, is born.

Date: 27 Sep 1862
Updated: 30 Sep 2019

Gen. Louis Botha, soldier, statesman and first prime minister of the Union of South Africa, is born near Greytown, Natal (now kwaZulu Natal). A Boer general and statesman, he was leader of the Transvaal army in the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) from March 1900, and he was one of the architects of the Union of South Africa. His vision of South Africa included both British and Dutch. Botha was prime minister of South Africa during the First World War and was a leading figure in the Paris Peace Conference at the end of the World War I. Botha was also prime minister of South Africa during the South West Africa campaign and the South African Rebellion. He was responsible for the infamous Native Land Act of 1913, he believed in maintaining Black traditions and in totally segregating black and white, except where blacks were needed as workers.

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How we know this

01Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau
02Potgieter, D.J. et al. (eds) (1970). Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Cape Town: NASOU, v. 2, p. 447
03South African History Online, Louis Botha, [online], Available at www.sahistory.org.za [Accessed: 25 September 2013]

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2011, March 16). Gen. Louis Botha, soldier, statesman and first prime minister of the Union of South Africa, is born.. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011018

South African History Online (2011) 'Gen. Louis Botha, soldier, statesman and first prime minister of the Union of South Africa, is born.', South African History Online, 16 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011018 (Accessed: 30 September 2026).

South African History Online, Gen. Louis Botha, soldier, statesman and first prime minister of the Union of South Africa, is born. [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011018, (accessed 30 September 2026).

"Gen. Louis Botha, soldier, statesman and first prime minister of the Union of South Africa, is born.." South African History Online, 16 Mar. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011018. Accessed 30 Sept. 2026.

South African History Online. "Gen. Louis Botha, soldier, statesman and first prime minister of the Union of South Africa, is born.." South African History Online. March 16, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011018.