Alexander Lionel Boraine (10 January 1931 – 5 December 2018) was a South African politician, minister, and anti-apartheid activist.

Early life

Alex Boraine was born in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

and grew up in a poor white housing estate. He would leave high school in Standard 8, two years before

matric Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now ...

and started working as a ledger clerk. He hadn't told his parents about his decision. As a member of the

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

, he became a lay preacher in 1950.

Education and early career

At 23, he studied at

Rhodes University Rhodes University is a public research university located in Makhanda (Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province. Established in 1904, Rhodes University is the province's oldest ...

in South Africa where he obtained a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree in Theology and Biblical Studies in 1956. Having been ordained as a Methodist minister in 1956 and his first position was in Pondoland East. After being sponsored by rich Methodists, Boraine attended Mansfield College at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in England and obtained a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in 1962. A further scholarship saw him attend

Drew University Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey. Drew has been nicknamed the "University in the Forest" because of its wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three sch ...

in the United States where he obtained his

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

in Systematic Theology and Biblical Studies during 1966. In 1970, he was appointed youngest-ever President of the

of Southern Africa, a position he held until 1972. As the head of the Church at the "height of apartheid", he took a stand that the Church "should be multiracial." During his time as President of the church, he visited mine compounds and began to criticise the working and living conditions of black miners. In 1972 he was invited to join Anglo American by

Harry Oppenheimer Harry Frederick Oppenheimer (28 October 1908 – 19 August 2000) was a prominent South African businessman, industrialist and philanthropist. Oppenheimer was often ranked as one of the wealthiest people in the world, and was considered South A ...

to implement changes to the working and living conditions of its black employees as an Employment Practices Consultant, a position he held for two years.

Politics

Boraine was asked to stand in

1974 South African general election General elections were held in South Africa on 24 April 1974. They were called one year earlier than scheduled by Prime Minister John Vorster on 4 February. The House of Assembly was increased from 166 to 171 members. The election was once again ...

and was elected to parliament as an MP for the

Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to: Active parties * Progressive Party, Brazil * Progressive Party (Chile) * Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus * Dominica Progressive Party * Progressive Party (Iceland) * Progressive Party (Sardinia), Ita ...

in the Pinelands constituency, won by only 34 seats. He resigned in 1986 together with Frederik van Zyl Slabbert, believing that the South African parliament was not relevant in establishing a non-racial South African society. The two men founded

IDASA The Institute for Democratic Alternatives in South Africa (IDASA) later known as the Institute for Democracy in South Africa was a South African-based think-tank organisation that was formed in 1986 by Frederik van Zyl Slabbert and Alex Boraine. ...

, which organized the 1987 Dakar Conference with ANC leaders in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

, Senegal."About Alex Boriane"
, ''Random House Struik'' From 1986 to 1995, Boraine headed two South African nonprofit organizations concerned with ending

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

and addressing the legacy it left behind."Alex Boriane"
''International Center for Transitional Justice'' Boraine was one of the main architects of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). He was involved in drafting the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act, No. 34 of 1995. In 1995, he was appointed by President

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the ...

to be its deputy chair of the TRC serving under Chairman Archbishop

Desmond Tutu Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 193126 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbish ...

from 1996 to 1998. From 1998 until early 2001, he served as professor of law at New York University and as director of the New York University Law School's Justice in Transition program. In 2001 Boraine co-founded the

International Center for Transitional Justice The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) was founded in 2001 as a non-profit organization dedicated to pursuing accountability for mass atrocity and human rights abuse through transitional justice mechanisms. ICTJ officially ope ...

, an international human rights NGO. He served as ICTJ's president for three years, and subsequently, the chairperson of ICTJ's South Africa office. Alex Boraine travelled to many countries that were in transition from dictatorship to democracy, at the invitation of governments and NGOs, to share the South African experience. Boraine was a member of the Advisory Board of Directors and a Global Visiting Professor of Law at the NYU School of Law's Hauser Global Law School Program. He published five books, including ''A Country Unmasked'', published by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...

in November 2000, and ''A Life in Transition'', published by Struik Publishers in June 2008.

Awards

Boraine was awarded the

Order of the Baobab The Order of the Baobab is a South African civilian national honour, awarded to those for service in business and the economy; science, medicine, and for technological innovation; and community service. It was instituted on 6 December 2002, and i ...

in 2014. Other awards include the 2000 honour from Italy, the President's Medal for Human Rights.

Death

He survived prostate cancer in 2008 but by 2015 he was diagnosed with bone cancer with three to 12 months to live. He died in his sleep on 5 December 2018 in Constantia, Cape Town, at the age of 87. Boraine died exactly five years to the day that Nelson Mandela died. He is survived by his wife Jenny, his four children, Andrew, Kathryn, Jeremy and Nicholas and seven grandchildren.

Publications

* Alex Boraine and Janet Levy (31 December 1997) ''Dealing with the Past: Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa'' * Alex Boraine (1 February 2001) ''A Country Unmasked: Inside South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission'' * Alex Boraine (1 September 2008) ''A Life in Transition'' * Alex Boraine (26 February 2013) ''What's Gone Wrong?: South Africa on the Brink of Failed Statehood''

References

External links

About Alex Boraine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boraine, Alex 1931 births 2018 deaths Politicians from Cape Town South African Methodists 20th-century South African lawyers Members of the House of Assembly (South Africa) Progressive Party (South Africa) politicians Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Africa) people Rhodes University alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford Alumni of Mansfield College, Oxford White South African people Transitional justice Order of the Baobab