Boesak Says Future Role Will Be Political

The Rev. Allan Boesak, a prominent anti-apartheid religious leader in South Africa, has confirmed his resignation as minister of his church and moderator of the Dutch Reformed Mission Church in the wake of a reported sex scandal.

Boesak said he is now open to a purely political role in the anti-apartheid campaign to bring a united, non-racial democracy to South Africa.

Boesak originally announced July 8 that he was leaving his church and his position as the highest official in the mixed-race denomination. This was two days after reports in the South African press that he and television journalist Elna Botha spent four days together at a seafront hotel.

Later reports by his lawyer indicated that Boesak was reconsidering his decision to leave as minister of his church. Boesak is president of the Geneva-based World Alliance of Reformed Churches, but he has not resigned from that organization.

Boesak also said he and his wife, Dorothy, will divorce and that he will continue to see Botha.