But this was mere routine for the forces of oppression in South Africa.

The outspoken Rev. Lionel Louw was irreverently forced from his home, bundled into a Police vehicle, and thrown behind bars.

He was then subjected to an intense grilling. Again mere routine.

But as he held the six interrogators in his gaze, the young black minister and university lecturer felt strangely confident. Almost victorious.

"I felt I was in charge. I was immovable in my intention to resist the evils of apartheid,'' he recalled after flying into Bermuda this week.

"There was nothing they could do about. I was determined to continue the struggle.'' Amid howls of protest over his imprisonment, he was released after two weeks.

He was lucky, of course. As a senior lecturer in social work at Cape Town University, his standing helped win him freedom.

It also won him the freedom to continue rallying and speaking publicly against apartheid -- the `crime' which led to his arrest.

This was in 1985.

History, declared the Rev. Louw, will record it as a year when apartheid was in its death throes.

The writing was already on the wall -- and he knew it when he stared his interrogators in their eyes. They knew it too.

Now, with South Africa's first all-race elections looming, the Rev. Louw was convinced a new dawn was breaking.

"Overall I am very optimistic about the future,'' the AME Minister said, pointing out how his faith had been a driving force in his life.

That optimism was not just for blacks, who have endured hundreds of years of oppression. But also for whites.

A brighter future beckoned for both races.

The Rev. Louw, who returned to South Africa yesterday, was invited here by the Men's Day Committee of St. Paul's AME Church.

On Monday night he told of his experiences during a rap session at the church, answering Bermudians' questions.

He also preached to Bermudians on the "positive nature'' of the Christian faith.

"This is particularly important when we are taking on new challenges, as South Africa is now,'' said the Rev. Louw.

AME Minister the Rev. Conway Simmons was delighted by Bermuda's special visitor.

"It will help generate interest in what is taking place in South Africa,'' he said.

"It will also help us renew our ties with Africa.'' The Rev. Louw said the April 26-28 elections were also a triumph for Bermuda.

Bermuda contributed to international pressure which had brought about change in South Africa.

"I would like to thank Bermudians for showing solidarity. The world is truly a global village, and we must look to the future with hope to bring about social justice, and economic equity,'' he said.

The Rev. Louw, who has just celebrated his 44th birthday, had no doubt the African National Congress would win next month.

But he was reluctant to speculate how crushing the victory would be.

He pointed out there would be a Government of National Unity for the first five years, almost certainly dominated by the ANC.

The wounds of apartheid, however, would take many years to heal, the Rev. Louw warned.

And there were still forces set against the elections -- including the Zulu-based Inkatha Freedom Party and far-right.

Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini has warned of creating a sovereign state in KwaZulu-Natal -- among ten homelands created under apartheid and due to disappear after the polls.

But the Rev. Louw asserted: "It is going to be difficult, but the problems are not of an insurmountable nature.

"I don't foresee a civil war breaking out.'' The Rev. Louw -- a staunch ANC supporter -- said the new Government would legitimately represent the majority of South Africans.

Whites, although a minority, would play a part in South Africa's future -- the ANC, after all, was fiercely ant-racist, he said.

"I don't believe there will be a great backlash against the whites. That will not occur.'' But the Rev. Louw stressed there would have to be "economic equity''.

Blacks could no longer be prevented from getting the top jobs -- particularly in the civil service.

"We have got to redress this.'' The Rev. Louw was asked how President F.W. de Klerk would be judged by history.

"I don't think he really had a choice, but to move with the times,'' replied the father-of-two.

"The momentum for change had reached such a stage that it couldn't have been suppressed without bloodshed on a massive scale.'' The Rev. Lionel Louw.