South African neo-Nazi leader Eugene Terreblanche has turned himself in to serve a one-year prison sentence for assaulting a black petrol station attendant.

Terreblanche, leader of the neo-Nazi Afrikaner Resistance Movement, galloped up to Potchefstroom court astride a black horse.

He lost an appeal earlier this week against his conviction for assaulting John Ndzima in 1996, and was given until 1300 GMT on Thursday to surrender.

Serenaded by an out-of-tune military band organised by his followers, the smirking Terreblanche told the waiting crowd of several hundred blacks that God would protect him in jail.

Clad in black and wearing a cowboy hat, Terreblanche said that he, a simple farmer, would be behind bars while the real criminals in South Africa roamed free.

Speaking in Afrikaans, Terreblanche said justice could only be found in heaven.

As he entered the courthouse escorted by a dozen jackbooted supporters, the crowd began jeering.

"I want him in jail," shouted protester Sophie Tlhako in Afrikaans.

But Andre Visagie, a member of the Afrikaner Resistance Movement, vowed to remain loyal to his leader.

"I'll follow him regardless of what happens. If anything happens to him in jail, we'll avenge it."

Second conviction

After a short court appearance, Terreblanche was driven to Potchefstroom Prison.

His lawyer, Dawie de Jager, has requested he receive a separate cell for safety reasons. Such requests are not automatically granted.

While incarcerated, the white supremacist is likely to appeal against conviction on another charge of attempted murder.

Terreblanche became a hate figure among black South Africans in the dying days of apartheid.

The Afrikaner Resistance Movement attempted to derail peace negotiations in the run-up to South Africa's first multi-racial elections in 1994, setting off bombs that killed 21 people.

The group has failed to flourish in the new South Africa, but it still has a hard core of supporters. Correspondents say its policies are regarded as eccentric and unworkable now that apartheid has been banished.