Speaking at the commission's Port Elizabeth hearing, Reverend Mzwandile Maqina said he was the victim of a "third force smear campaign" aimed at himself and Azapo. He said he was instrumental in bringing peace to the area, SABC TV news reported.
Maqina was accused at an earlier Truth Commission hearing of conspiring with police and Azapo and fomenting violence in the Eastern Cape. Deputy Environmental Affairs Minister Bantu Holomisa told the commission Maqina was an enemy of the liberation struggle.
Maqina denied ever being an Azapo member and said the organisation and the United Democratic Front used him as a contact "because I was an influential person".
His relationship with the UDF soured when he criticised its use of necklace killings, Maqina said.
Maqina said he could not apologise for incidents he was not guilty of. Maqina said the security police had used information concerning Azapo attacks to smear his name.
He said he was sorry lives had been lost during the liberation struggle in the Eastern Cape.
Earlier in the day Beauty Shanga and her sister Rose told the commission how Maqina was a supporter of security police harassment and attacks on Beauty's husband Simon. Simon Shanga was allegedly killed by security police in 1985.