ARCHBISHOP
Emeritus Desmond Tutu with his daughter, Thandeka Tutu-Gxashe with former mayor Patricia de Lille behind them, paid tribute to antiapartheid icon Alex Boraine at a memorial service at the Anglican Christ Church in Constantia.
RELATIVES, friends and former colleagues of anti-apartheid icon Alex Boraine paid moving tributes to the former Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) deputy chairperson during his memorial service at the Anglican Christ Church in Constantia yesterday.
Among those who addressed the gathering were Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, former antiapartheid activist Mary Burton and the parish’s Father Terry Lester.
Boraine’s son Nicolas recalled anecdotes about his father to mourners in the church, saying: “One of the greatest gifts he gave me was to live a full life.”
He said his mother Jenny Boraine was the one who showed Boraine the way, “and changed course”.
He said his father’s entry into politics began with his involvement in US civil rights campaigns with American civil rights icon Martin Luther King’s civil rights movement in the 1950s.
Tutu spoke briefly inside the church, and told the Cape Times outside that Boraine’s memorial was a “wonderful tribute to a wonderful person”.
Burton highlighted the political turmoil of the 1980s, and recalled how Boraine and his political soulmate and opposition Progressive Party co-leader, Van Zyl Slabbert, left Parliament and formal politics to start the Institute for a Democratic South Africa (Idasa).
It was formed to help plot a peaceful constitutional transition for the country from apartheid to democracy.
Former TRC commissioner Professor Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela said: “This has been an incredibly heartwarming celebration of Alex Boraine’s life.
“I remember him as this tall, strong man who seemed to carry every essence of the TRC on his shoulders.
“What a gentle soul, a loving man who was truly dedicated to his country.”