The former President, Mr P.W. Botha, appeared briefly in court yesterday after twice defying subpoenas from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, only to be ordered by a black magistrate, Judge Victor Lugaju, to return on February 23rd to plead on charges of contempt.
Looking frail, the octogenarian former president was silent through his fleeting court appearance in the town of George, near his coastal retirement home. Afterwards, however, he expressed himself strongly at a news conference in the courtroom.
"I only apologise for my sins to God," Mr Botha (82) said, reiterating earlier pronouncements that he is not prepared to apologise to the commission.
Mr Botha was head of government in South Africa, first as prime minister and then as president, from 1978 to 1989. If he pleads not guilty next month, his trial will start on April 14th, less than four months before the truth commission is due to submit its final report and recommendations to President Nelson Mandela.
Judging from his statement to the press yesterday, there is little chance that Mr Botha will back down. Regarded as the last of the Afrikaner strongmen who sought to prevent black rule, Mr Botha was accompanied by members of his family, as well as his fiancee, Reinette te Water, a widow who is 35 years younger than he is. He enjoyed moral support from Afrikaner leaders of three parties.
But a protest demonstration by the African National Congress made it clear that many South Africans felt that he had plenty to apologise for. They held posters blaming him for the death of the black consciousness leader, Steve Biko, in 1977. They also blamed him for forced removals and for apartheid generally.
His defiant statement to journalists drew a sharp reaction from one ANC deputy, Mr Phillip Dexter. He castigated the former president as "an unrepentant dinosaur" and, referring to the Afrikaners who cheered him in George yesterday, of "awakening these disgusting forces".
In his statement, Mr Botha attacked the ANC-led government of Mr Mandela, accusing it of taking South Africa to the abyss of disaster.
"Effective government is grinding to a halt. Pensions of the poor and old are not being paid. Our farmers our being murdered almost on a daily basis. Civilised people of all [communities] are becoming victims of violent hijacks, rapes and robberies. Unemployment is increasing by the day," he said.
Mr Botha reiterated his gratitude to the soldiers and the policemen who had resisted the ANC's "terrorist onslaught" and called on Afrikaners to unite as a prelude to a broader unification of "all those who are opposed to the forces of chaos, communism and socialism".