South Africa's last hard-line apartheid leader, former President P.W. Botha, appeared before a black judge Friday on charges of defying the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
He later told reporters he refused to apologize for fighting what he called a communist insurgency and referred to apartheid as a form of being a good neighbor."Apartheid is an Afrikaans word and can easily be replaced by a positive term - good neighborliness," he said. "I only apologize for my sins before God."
After a short session, the case was postponed until Feb. 23, when Botha will issue a plea to allegations he refused to testify before the commission investigating apartheid-era political crimes. The trial is set for April 14.
Dressed in a dark suit and walking with the aid of a wooden stick, Botha, 82, was accompanied by fiancee Reinette Te Water Naude and members of his family.
Botha's defiance of the Truth Commission is being used as a rallying point by Afrikaners, the Dutch-descended white settlers of South Africa. While parts of the Afrikaner minority that ruled during apartheid have accepted black rule, and others want an autonomous homeland.
During the 21-minute hearing, in which prosecution and defense submitted evidence to Judge Victor Lugajo, Botha stared straight ahead without speaking.
He held a rare news conference afterward, standing in the dock and joking with journalists, even wagging his finger at one point in the manner for which he was notorious during his 11 years as head of state, from 1978-89.
Botha criticized the African National Congress-led government that took power in the country's first all-race elections in 1994. He warned that whites, especially Afrikaners, would refuse to tolerate corruption and crime.
"Don't wake up the tiger in the Afrikaner," he said. "I am afraid they are busy doing it."
Known as the "Big Crocodile" for his bullying and sometimes ruthless manner, Botha's appearance before Judge Lugajo reflected change in South Africa since the nation's first all-race election in 1994.
Botha fought against equal rights for blacks throughout his political career. But he insisted Friday he had no problem with Lugajo, saying he had grown up on a farm and played with young blacks as a child.
"Why should I now have objections to a black magistrate?"