The 3,500-page document was presented to the president by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) which has spend two-and-a-half years compling a dossier of human rights violations committed by all sides during the time of apartheid.

"Fellow South Africans, accept this report as a way - an indispensible way - to heal," the Archbishop said.

President Mandela stumbled momentarily under the weight of the volumes as they were handed over.

The sound of reconciliation

The handing over of the report was overshadowed by two controversial legal bids to delay publication - the first by former President FW de Klerk, and the second by President Mandela's own party, the African National Congress.

The ANC, concerned over condemnation of its activities while an exiled liberation movement, failed in a last-minute attempt to delay publication of the report.

Only a relatively small section of the report deals with ANC activities.

De Klerk wins interdict

Earlier in the week, Mr de Klerk won a temporary interdict preventing the publication of material linking him to state-sponsored bombings in the 1980s.

Sections of the TRC document, which suggest that Mr de Klerk knew about the bombing plans but failed to report them, have been suppressed until the case is heard again in March.

The TRC intends to contest the case brought by Mr de Klerk.

ANC challenge

The ANC court challenge aimed to prevent the publication of allegations that it was involved in bomb attacks on civilian targets and the torture and murder of suspected police spies.

It claimed it did not have the opportunity to respond to the accusations.

ANC Deputy Secretary-General Thenjiwe Mtintso said that to condemn the ANC would "criminalise the whole liberation struggle".

Archbishop Tutu said he was "devastated" and very sad about the ANC challenge.

TRC deputy chair Alex Boraine described the court's ruling against the ANC as "a victory for truth and a victory for justice".

Thousands have testifed

The TRC was established with multi-party approval in 1995 to investigate crimes committed during the apartheid era, with the aim of providing "as complete a picture as possible of the nature, causes and extent of gross violations of human rights".

It has heard testimony from over 21,000 victims of apartheid.