South African Foreign Minister, 'Pik' Botha denied South African support for RENAMO, claiming that the country is committed to the Nkomati Accord of 1984. The Nkomati Accord was signed by South Africa and Mozambique on 16 March 1984. The move followed talks between South African President, P.W. Botha and Samora Machel, the leader of the Mozambican government and Frente de Libertacao de Mozambique (FRELIMO). In this agreement both countries resolved not to harbour hostile forces or allow their countries to be used as launching pads for attacks on one another. Mozambique agreed to expel the African National Congress (ANC) from their country while South Africa agreed to cease its support for RENAMO, an anti-government guerrilla organisation in Mozambique.
31 January 1985
South African Foreign Minister, ‘Pik’ Botha denies South African support for RENAMO
- Updated
- 30 Sep 2019
How we know this
- 01O’Malley, P. ‘1985’, from Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory and Dialog, [online], Available at www.nelsonmandela.org.za [Accessed: 21 November 2012]
- 02South African History Online, ‘South Africa and Mozambique sign a non-aggression pact’, [online], Available at www.sahistory.org.za [Accessed: 23 November 2012]
Last updated · 30 Sep 2019
South African History Online. (2013, January 24). South African Foreign Minister, ‘Pik’ Botha denies South African support for RENAMO. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094690
South African History Online (2013) 'South African Foreign Minister, ‘Pik’ Botha denies South African support for RENAMO', South African History Online, 24 January. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094690 (Accessed: 8 October 2026).
South African History Online, South African Foreign Minister, ‘Pik’ Botha denies South African support for RENAMO [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094690, (accessed 8 October 2026).
"South African Foreign Minister, ‘Pik’ Botha denies South African support for RENAMO." South African History Online, 24 Jan. 2013, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094690. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.
South African History Online. "South African Foreign Minister, ‘Pik’ Botha denies South African support for RENAMO." South African History Online. January 24, 2013. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094690.
Also on 31 January
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- 1956Trevor Manuel, Minister in The Presidency: National Planning Commission, is born
- 1964The University of Port Elizabeth is founded
- 1985President P. W. Botha offers Nelson Mandela conditional release from prison
- 1986Zubeida Jaffer is detained, while pregnant, by the security police under Apartheid regulations
- 2003Cardoso’s murderers convicted in Mozambique
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