Pik Botha, South African lawyer, politician, and diplomat, 8th South African Ambassador to the United States (died 2018)

Pik Botha
Roelof Frederik "Pik" Botha, was a South African politician who served as the country's foreign minister in the last years of the apartheid era, the longest-serving in South African history. Known as a liberal within the party, Botha served to present a friendly, conciliatory face on the regime, while criticised internally. He was a leading contender for the leadership of the National Party upon John Vorster's resignation in 1978, but was ultimately not chosen. Staying in the government after the first non-racial general election in 1994, he served under Mandela as Minister of Mineral and Energy Affairs from 1994 to 1996.
List of ambassadors of South Africa to the United States
The position of South African ambassador to the United States was first held in March 1949, following the upgrade of South Africa's diplomatic mission to an embassy. The post has been held by many important politicians and was most recently held by Ebrahim Rasool until being declared persona non grata by Secretary of State Marco Rubio in March 2025.