The Order of Ikhamanga in Silver

Mr Johan Botha (Posthumous) Awarded for:

His excellent contribution to opera music and putting South Africa on the world stage. He courageously entertained multitudes and sang for good causes, even at a time when his health was weakening.

Profile of Mr Johan Botha

Mr Johan Botha was born on 19 August 1965 in Rustenburg, North West. He studied opera in Pretoria, and later became one of South Africa’s famous and internationally acclaimed operatic tenors in the opera world. Botha made his professional stage debut in 1989 in Roodepoort.

He was offered to become a member of the opera chorus at the Bayreuth Festival in Germany in 1990, after which his international opera career flourished. He has always been a patriot who proudly retained his South African citizenship and has never hesitated to promote his beloved country internationally.

The venues where he performed included the opera houses in Berlin, Dresden, Hamburg and Munich in Germany, the Gran Teatro del Liceu in Barcelona, Catalonia, the Lyric Opera Chicago in the United States of America (USA), the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, and the opera houses in Los Angeles and San Francisco in the USA.

In August 2016, Botha performed at the Artscape in Cape Town with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra and at the Endler Hall in Stellenbosch, to raise funds for the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA).

Botha, who suffered from cancer, enjoyed giving these special homecoming concerts in aid of CANSA’s 11 Care Homes. He returned to Vienna in Austria shortly after the concert, where he passed on 8 September 2016 after being admitted to hospital.