Pieter Willem Botha (January 12, 1916 – ), commonly known as "P. W." and Die Groot Krokodil (Afrikaans for "The Big Crocodile"), was the prime minister of South Africa from 1978 to 1984 and the first executive state president from 1984 to the present. Botha was a long-time leader of South Africa's National Party and a staunch advocate of racial segregation and the apartheid system.