Michael James Minaar Louw (c1940 – 2009) was a former Director-General of the South African National Intelligence Service (NIS) and after the 1994 South African elections, appointed as head of the new

South African Secret Service The South African Secret Service (SASS) was the previous name of a South African intelligence agency. Currently, it is known as the Foreign Branch of the State Security Agency. It is responsible for all non-military foreign intelligence and fo ...

. He played a key role as a representative of the South African government in the secret negotiations held between them and the ANC in exile and which brought about the unbanning of the latter in 1990 and the release of Nelson Mandela.

Early life

He grew up in Prieska, Northern Cape. He was educated at the

University of the Orange Free State The University of the Free State is a multi-campus public university in Bloemfontein, the capital of the Free State and the judicial capital of South Africa. It was first established as an institution of higher learning in 1904 as a tertiary se ...

Background

His earliest intelligence career was with the Directorate Military Intelligence (DMI) and with its formation in 1969, he joined the Bureau of State Security (BOSS) where he worked as a researcher. BOSS was renamed the Department of National Security (DONS) in 1978 and then in 1980 to the National Intelligence Service. At the time of its name change, Louw was working as the Director of International Political Research. Under

Niel Barnard Lukas Daniel Barnard (born 1949), known as Niël Barnard, is a former head of South Africa's National Intelligence Service and was notable for his behind-the-scenes role in preparing former president Nelson Mandela and former South African pre ...

's restructuring of BOSS from 1980 into the NIS, the intelligence research division's importance grew and Louw was instrumental in growing the reputation of the organisation with a daily product called ''National Intelligence Flashes and Sketches'' (NIFS). He would be promoted to Chief Director Research in the early eighties. In 1985 he was promoted to Deputy-Director NIS. He was also involved in talks with Nelson Mandela while he was still in prison. In May 1988, Louw was one of four people appointed by President

PW Botha Pieter Willem Botha, (; 12 January 1916 – 31 October 2006), commonly known as P. W. and af, Die Groot Krokodil (The Big Crocodile), was a South African politician. He served as the last prime minister of South Africa from 1978 to 1984 an ...

to talk directly with Nelson Mandela. The others were, Fanie van der Merwe, Director-General of the Ministry of Justice, General Willie Willemse, Commissioner of Prisons, and Niel Barnard. These meeting

Pollsmoor Prison Pollsmoor Prison, officially known as Pollsmoor Maximum Security Prison, is located in the Cape Town suburb of Tokai in South Africa. Pollsmoor is a maximum security penal facility that continues to hold some of South Africa's most dangerous c ...

. On 12 September 1989, Lucerne Switzerland, Louw and Martiz Spaarwater (Chief of Operations NIS) met

Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki KStJ (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who was the second president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Congress (ANC ...

(

ANC The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

National Executive Council member) and Jacob Zuma (Deputy Head of the

Department of Intelligence and Security Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

– ANC) at a hotel room in the Palace Hotel. The view of the NIS was that a negotiated settlement was the only route for South Africa and this meeting would forge a way for a political solution to the end of apartheid, with the release of Nelson Mandela and the unbanning of the African National Congress. The outcome of the meeting was that the ANC was prepared to enter into further discussions with the South African government while the NIS would report back to President

FW de Klerk Frederik Willem de Klerk (, , 18 March 1936 – 11 November 2021) was a South African politician who served as state president of South Africa from 1989 to 1994 and as deputy president from 1994 to 1996 in the democratic government. As South ...

. On 16 September, Mike Louw and Maritz Spaarwater met de Klerk in Cape Town who became angry when he was told of the NIS meeting but calmed down when shown the authorisation for the meeting by Louw. Prior to the meeting, in August 1989, a resolution was brought before the State Security Council (SSC). The resolution, drafted by Niel Barnard and Mike Louw, and supported by

Kobie Coetsee Hendrik Jacobus Coetsee (19 April 1931 – 29 July 2000), known as Kobie Coetsee, was a South African lawyer, National Party politician and administrator as well as a negotiator during the country's transition to universal democracy. Biograph ...

and President P.W. Botha, prior to the change in presidents, proposed examining the feasibility of entering discussions with the ANC, which was seen by the NIS as the go-ahead to hold discussions. The resolution was adopted by the State Security Council. In January 1990, Louw instructed Martiz Spaarwater to organise a second meeting with Thabo Mbeki and

Aziz Pahad Dr. Aziz Pahad (born 25 December 1940) is a South African politician, who served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1994 to 2008, he currently serves as an MP for Johannesburg West Highlands. He is the brother of Essop Pahad. Education A ...

, representing the ANZ in-exile, in Lucerne on 6 February 1990. This occurred four days after FW de Klerk's 2 February 1990 speech at the opening of parliament. Priorities such as the release of Nelson Mandela, return of ANC exiles to the country, release of political prisoners and preparations for constitutional negotiations were finalised. Four committees would be established to consider and make further recommendations on these four priorities. In 1992, he was appointed the Director-General of the National Intelligence Service replacing Niel Barnard. After the amalgamation of the six old intelligence services into two intelligence services after the 1994 South African election, the

(SASS) and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), he would lead the foreign intelligence branch, the SASS from 1 January 1995 until 1997 when he left due to illness. In 2003 he was awarded a platinum version of the Intelligence Lifetime Award by the President through the Minister for Intelligence Services. Also in 2003, he was one of three part-time councillors appointed to the Intelligence Services Council on Conditions of Service.

Marriage

He was married to Marié and had three children, Kobus, Marianna (Marais) and Van Wyk.

Death

He died in 2009 from a stoke while in

Middelburg, Eastern Cape Middelburg () is a town in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, in the Great Karoo. It lies in the Upper Karoo, 1,279 m above sea level, with a population of 19,000.

while returning to

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...

with his family.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Louw, Mike 1940 births 2009 deaths Afrikaner people South African people South African spies Apartheid government Nelson Mandela