Dr Allan Boesak, once a feted anti-apartheid campaigner, yesterday pleaded not guilty to charges of embezzling foreign donor funds meant for the poor during the final years of apartheid.
"We plead not guilty on all counts," Dr Boesak's senior defence counsel, Mr Mike Maritz, told the Cape Town High Court.
Dr Boesak (52) faces 32 charges of theft and fraud alleging he syphoned off over 1.1 million rand (about £128,000).
Mr Freddie Steenkamp, the accountant for Boesak's Foundation for Peace and Justice, was jailed last year for six years after pleading guilty to similar charges.
Outside the court a small group of women dressed in the black, green and yellow of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) shouted "Viva Boesak" and waved a placard reading "Boesak - We'll stand by you".
Ms Millie Jacobs, wearing a Nelson Mandela T-shirt, told Reuters: "He's our comrade and we have to support him. If he goes to jail, we will all go with him."
The accusations were first made by a Danish aid agency before South Africa's first fully-democratic elections in 1994. The hearing has been postponed several times due to a dispute with the Legal Aid Board over the funding of the defence.
"I feel good. I've waited four years for this. It's finally happening," Dr Boesak told journalists as he entered the court. "By the end of it all, the world will be astounded by the faithfulness of God."
The former president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches was accompanied in court by his wife, Elna, and four of his six children.
Originally he was granted legal aid for a small team. An anonymous donor then came up with a million rand to pay for a senior counsel, prompting the Legal Aid Board to withdraw all funding.
Earlier this month, the anonymous donor said the million rand could be used to pay for the whole legal team, not just senior counsel, allowing the case to start.
The former minister, who later entered party politics and became Western Cape leader of the ANC, says the delays have been agonising and he has been living off friends' charity.
Ms Dawn King, a forensic accountant and investigator, was the first state witness of dozens expected to appear. She gave details of the accounts of his charity and said foreign donors wanting to give money to the anti-apartheid cause would use the World Alliance of Reformed Churches as a conduit.