WORLD : Apartheid Foe Boesak Resigns Church Offices After Scandal

The Rev. Allan Boesak, a prominent anti-apartheid campaigner, today resigned his church posts to seek a political career after a scandal over an extramarital affair.

Boesak announced July 8 that he would step down as a Protestant minister after press reports about the affair with a television journalist.

Religious leaders and friends had since pleaded with him not to quit his church posts, but today he reaffirmed the decision to step down, effective immediately.

Boesak said he wants to play a role in South African politics.

“I have . . . decided to offer my services to the people of this country to bring about a united, non-racial and democratic South Africa. I am prepared to play any role which I may be called upon to play in this regard,” he said in a statement released by his lawyer.

The mixed-race leader said that he will continue his relationship with television journalist Elna Botha and that he and his wife, Dorothy, will divorce.

He said he is not ashamed of his relationship with Botha and hopes that the press will ignore his private life.