JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Pik Botha, South Africa's foreign minister in the last years of apartheid, has died at the age 86.

Botha's son, Roelof, on Friday told South Africa's eNCA news outlet that his father died at his home after an illness.

Pik Botha was a prominent figure in the country's white minority government at the height of the struggle against apartheid that ended with all-race elections in 1994.

He defended the actions of his government but also recognized the need for change, becoming minister of mineral and energy affairs under Nelson Mandela, the anti-apartheid leader who became president.