Defiant Afrikaaner Must Face Black Judge Botha Charged With Dodging Truth Panel

Former President P.W. Botha stood Friday before a black judge his government would never have allowed on the bench, facing charges of contempt of court for refusing to testify about atrocities committed under his apartheid-era rule.

Botha, 82, who has suffered from health problems recently, entered the courtroom using a cane and offered a quavering salute to the small group of retired white generals who had gathered here to offer him support.

But later he showed that despite several strokes and a hip replacement operation, he had lost none of his spit and fire. Demanding order from unruly reporters, he attacked the current black-led government as “heading for disaster,” warned that its policies were “awakening the tiger” in the Afrikaner and - in a gesture he was famous for - wagged his finger and said he would never apologize.

The decision to prosecute Botha for refusing to testify before the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission is an issue that has gripped this nation, often pitting whites against blacks.

Whether Botha is an old man being prosecuted out of revenge or whether he refuses to tell the truth about what happened during his rule from 1978 to 1989 and must be held to account like anyone else is a debate that has raged here for weeks.

But many South Africans also eagerly awaited Botha’s appearance in court simply for the spectacle it offered of how far South Africa had already come since the country’s first all-race elections in 1994.

Although Botha was the president who brought the dissident Nelson Mandela from prison to meet him, during his 11 years in power blacks were not allowed to vote, own land where they chose or attain the status of judge. Friday, however, Mandela is the country’s president and Botha was made to face Magistrate Victor Lugaju, who promised days before to be evenhanded in handling the case.

The court appearance marked the beginning of the prosecution of Botha. If Botha is convicted of contempt, he faces up to two years in jail and a fine.

In Botha’s brief appearance - barely 20 minutes - he did not enter a plea. His lawyers asked for a postponement until Feb. 23, saying they intended to subpoena documents from the commission that would be relevant to the case.

They said they also needed time to decide how to deal with the government’s recent decision to stop paying for Botha’s legal fees. The fees were being paid only while Botha was cooperating with the commission.

Assuming he pleads not guilty on Feb. 23, his trial would start on April 14.

The issue of Judge Lugaju’s race was never brought up at the hearing, but Botha’s lawyers questioned the judge about his ability to speak Afrikaans, asking him if he truly “felt comfortable” handling a case that would involve so many documents in that language. Lugaju, who speaks quietly and said little during the proceedings, assured Botha’s lawyers that he would manage, relying on his assistants or on translators if need be. But the exchange appeared to be a veiled attempt to get an Afrikaans-speaking judge who might be more sympathetic to Botha’s position.

The Truth Commission, set up to investigate South Africa’s brutal past and help put it to rest, subpoenaed Botha three times in 1997, but each time he refused to appear. Botha is the only witness so far who has flouted the commission’s subpoenas.

He has made a 1,700-page written submission to the commission, but the head of the panel, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, has said many questions remained unanswered and that he wants Botha to appear before the panel, which is expected to finish its work by this summer.

Anticipating clashing demonstrators outside the court here Friday, more than 200 police officers were on duty. But Botha drew fewer than 30 supporters, and the event remained peaceful. His arrival was greeted by more than 400 placard-waving members of President Mandela’s African National Congress party who interrupted their singing to boo him as he alighted from his metallic gray BMW. He was accompanied by his fiancee, Reinette te Water Naude, who is 35 years his junior.