Rubicon speech

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The Rubicon speech was delivered by South African President P. W. Botha on the evening of 15 August 1985 in Durban. The world was expecting Botha to announce major reforms in his government, including abolishing the apartheid system and the release of Nelson Mandela.^[1] However, the speech Botha actually delivered at the time did none of this.

The speech is known as the 'Rubicon speech' because in its second-last paragraph Botha used the phrase, "I believe that we are today crossing the Rubicon. There can be no turning back."^[2] alluding to the historical reference of Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon River.