
6th Cabinet of Republic of South Africa (since 1961 Constitution)
1981
P.W. Botha (1962)
Date formed	29 April 1981 (1981-04-29)
Date dissolved	3 September 1984 (1984-09-03)
People and organisations
Head of state	President Marais Viljoen (acting)
Head of government	Prime Minister P.W. Botha (position merged with Presidency in 1984)
Status in legislature	Majority
Opposition party	Progressive Federal Party
Opposition leader	Frederik van Zyl Slabbert
History
Election(s)	1981
Legislature term(s)	3 years, 4 months and 5 days
Predecessor	Vorster III
Successor	Botha II

When P.W. Botha first became Prime Minister of South Africa in 1981, he appointed members of the National Party to positions in his first Cabinet.

Cabinet

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

References

^ 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.
^ ^a ^b 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.
^ ^a ^b 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.
^ 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.

v t e History of the Cabinet of South Africa
Pre-apartheid (1910–48)	L. Botha I L. Botha II Smuts I Smuts II Hertzog I Hertzog II Hertzog III Hertzog IV Smuts III
Apartheid (1948–94)	Malan I Malan II Strydom Verwoerd I Verwoerd II Vorster I Vorster II Vorster III P. W. Botha I P. W. Botha II de Klerk
Post-apartheid (1994–)	Mandela Mbeki I Mbeki II Motlanthe Zuma I Zuma II Ramaphosa I Ramaphosa II