VZCZCXRO0921
PP RUEHDU RUEHJO
DE RUEHTN #0248 3541502
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 191502Z DEC 08
FM AMCONSUL CAPE TOWN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2901
INFO RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 6258
RUEHJO/AMCONSUL JOHANNESBURG 2070
RUEHDU/AMCONSUL DURBAN 3209

UNCLAS CAPE TOWN 000248 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM SF
SUBJECT:  ALLAN BOESAK JOINS COPE 
 
REFTEL:  PRETORIA 02736 
 
¶1.  (U) On December 16, former anti-apartheid cleric Allan Boesak 
joined the Congress of the People (COPE) at its founding conference 
in Bloemfontein. Boesak, who was at the forefront of peaceful 
resistance to apartheid, has had a colorful career. He first rose to 
prominence in the 1980's as a cleric and a leader of the 
anti-apartheid United Democratic Front.  In 1982, Boesak persuaded 
members of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches to declare 
apartheid a heresy and to suspend membership of the white South 
African churches.  He served as president of the Alliance from 1982 
to 1991. In 1983, Boesak helped organize the United Democratic Front 
(UDF), a multiracial association of groups opposed to apartheid, and 
in 1984 he and others organized a boycott of the national elections. 
Boesak was arrested a number of times for his participation in 
demonstrations, and his movements and speech were restricted. 
 
¶2.  (U) After the fall of apartheid in the early 1990s, Boesak 
became active in the ANC and was appointed leader of the ANC in the 
Western Cape. At this time he started the Foundation for Peace and 
Justice (FPJ), an organization designed to help victims of 
apartheid. He raised funds for his foundation from the Swedish 
International Development Agency, Denmark's Dan Church Aid and the 
Church of Norway. In 1994, he was accused of misappropriating money 
donated to the charity. The allegations forced SA to withdraw his 
nomination as ambassador to the United Nations. In 1999, Boesak was 
found guilty of stealing more than R1.5 million from the FPJ and was 
sentenced to six years in prison, despite the ANC conducting its own 
enquiry which cleared him. He was released on parole in 2001 after 
serving only two years of his sentence. 
 
¶3.  (U) After being released from prison, Boesak continued to enjoy 
considerable support from the ANC of which he remained a member. The 
late Justice Minister, Dullah Omar, once gave him a hero's welcome 
and dismissed his offence as "struggle accounting" done in the name 
of the liberation movement. In 2005, South African President Thabo 
Mbeki pardoned Boesak, a move which some political parties called a 
travesty of justice and led to speculation that the pardon was 
purely politically motivated. 
 
¶4.  (U) By July 2008, Boesak had fallen out with the ANC. He accused 
the party of entrenching racial hatred instead of preaching 
tolerance. In a public address in Cape Town, he said the party had 
brought back the hated system of racial categorization and said 
affirmative action had, in some cases, taken on new forms of racial 
exclusion, throwing overboard the solidarity forged through years of 
struggle. 
 
¶5. (U) Comment: Boesak's emergence as a member of Cope has resulted 
in a mud- slinging match between the ANC and Cope. The ANC has 
labeled Boesak a has-been who tried to sell his services to the 
highest bidder, while Cope has stated that such conduct was not 
unexpected from the ANC.  Boesak enjoys a large following among the 
colored people in the Western Cape and if Cope wishes to make 
inroads into this community it must have a representative with whom 
the people can identify. Cope must however, guard against being 
labeled as a party where outcasts from other political parties are 
welcomed.  It remains to be seen whether Boesak's controversial past 
will have a negative impact on the newly formed party. End comment.