MONDAY, 10.30AM:
FORMER state president PW Botha has pleaded not guilty in the George Regional Court to charges brought against him after defying a subpoena to testify before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to explain the role of the 1980s State Security Council, which ran the apartheid government’s campaign to contain rebellion by anti-apartheid activists.
Botha appeared in court on Monday amid high security and a demonstration by African National Congress supporters. The case has been postponed until April 14 by Western Cape Regional Court president Victor Lugaju.
Botha’s legal team argues that the TRC, being ”largely composed of former ANC members and sympathisers”, is obviously biased, and incapable of giving Botha a fair hearing.
20