Botha was instrumental in lengthy peace talks between South Africa, Cuba, and the People's Republic of Angola aimed at ending the South African Border War. On 13 December 1988, Botha and Defence Minister Magnus Malan ratified the Brazzaville Protocol, which led to the effective cessation of hostilities in that conflict. Namibian independence On 22 December 1988, Botha signed the Tripartite Accord involving Angola, Cuba and South Africa at United Nations headquarters in New York City which led to the implementation of Security Council Resolution 435, and to South Africa's granting of independence to Namibia. On 21 December 1988, Botha, with a 22-strong South African delegation from Johannesburg, was initially booked to travel to the Namibian independence ratification ceremony in New York on Pan Am Flight 103 from London. Instead, the booking was cancelled as he and six delegates took an earlier flight, thereby avoiding the fatal PA103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland. National unity Botha subsequently served as Minister of Mineral and Energy Affairs in South Africa's first post-apartheid government from 1994 to 1996 under President Nelson Mandela. Botha had first met Mandela in May 1990 at the historic Groote Schuur Minute, and was highly impressed by Mandela's knowledge of Afrikaner history. Botha became deputy leader of the National Party in the Transvaal from 1987 to 1996. He retired from politics in 1996 when F. W. de Klerk withdrew the National Party from the government of national unity. In 2000, Botha declared his support for President Thabo Mbeki. In 2013, Botha expressed criticism for the government's affirmative action policies saying that the South African government of 1994 would never have reached a constitutional settlement with the ANC had it insisted on its current affirmative action programme. In an interview on affirmative action, Botha publicly declared that he had never been a member of the ANC, and would not join under its current policies. On 12 December 2013, Botha appeared on the BBC's Question Time, hosted in Johannesburg, discussing the life and legacy of Nelson Mandela. Personal life Botha married Helena Bosman in 1953, with whom he had two daughters, Anna Hertzog and the artist Lien Botha as well as two sons, the rock musician Piet Botha (1955-2019) and the economist Roelof Botha. Among Botha's eight grandchildren is grandson Roelof Botha, former CFO of PayPal. Helena died in 1996, after having been ill, including being partially paralysed, following a fall in her