Botha, 30, produced TV documentaries for the state-run South Africa Broadcasting Corp. Her uncle is Stoffel Botha, a former minister of Home Affairs who tried to withdraw Boesak’s passport after he organized a 1985 protest march against the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela. Boesak was linked to another woman before. Five years ago, security police leaked reports that he was having an adulterous relationship with a woman staff member of the South African Council of Churches. Boesak admitted “a unique relationship” with the woman and was suspended from his church duties for several weeks. He weathered the scandal largely because the church felt he had been smeared by the police. This time, his position was shakier. The church hierarchy could ultimately decide to remove him from office, and his position as president of the 70-million-member World Alliance of Reformed Churches may also be at risk.
If Boesak’s church career is cut short, he may turn to full-time politics by running for office in Mandela’s African National Congress. Sex scandals are rare in South African politics and do not provoke the kind of outrage that might force Boesak from public life elsewhere. ANC officials say they consider the affair a “personal” matter. “People should not think this is the worst kind of sin,” said Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who has worked closely with Boesak. “We hope that Allan will work through this crisis and be rehabilitated, so that his tremendous gifts are not lost to the church and the country.” Boesak might yet salvage political renewal from his moment of personal disgrace.
