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 is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, 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 Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

, 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 (formerly 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 prov ...

in South Africa where he obtained a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

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 The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

in England and obtained a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) 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. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in 1962. A further scholarship saw him attend

Drew University Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey, United States. It has a wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three schools. While affiliated with the Methodism, Me ...

in the United States where he obtained his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

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 OMSG (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 S ...

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 and was elected to parliament as an MP for the Progressive Party in the Pinelands constituency, won by only 34 votes. 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, which organized the 1987 Dakar Conference with ANC leaders in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

, 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: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

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 ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

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 Archbishop ...

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 open ...

, 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 publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

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

Awards

Boraine was awarded the Order of the Baobab 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

- dated 12 September 1995 {{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 Recipients of the Order of the Baobab Anti-apartheid activists