S. Africa to Oust Briton Who Aimed Tomato at Botha
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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — A British woman who allegedly threw a tomato at President Pieter W. Botha has been ordered deported, the South African government announced Saturday.
Officials said the incident happened Friday at the University of South Africa in Pretoria where Botha was attending a ceremony. As he and his wife, Elize, mingled with guests, Sally Hutchings, a lecturer in the university’s statistics department, took a tomato from a buffet table and threw it at the South African president.
The tomato missed its target. However, the Home Affairs Ministry did not take the incident lightly. “Should the object have contained explosives, the lives of the state president and other persons could have been in jeopardy,” it said in a statement.
Hutchings had submitted her resignation before the tomato incident.
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