Allan Boesak graduated from the Belville Theological Seminary and worked as a pastor in Paarl between 1967 and 1970. After received his PhD from a university in New York, he led a parish in Belville South. Boesak rose to prominence when he became the head of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches in 1982. He used this platform to speak out against the policies of the apartheid government. Boesak was also instrumental in establishing the United Democratic Front (UDF), which was one of the largest anti-apartheid movements in South Africa.
Although praised for his role in the liberation struggle, Boesak's political career has been marred by controversy. This first incident was in 1990, when he was forced to resign from the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) after having had an extra-marital affair with a white employee of the South African Council of Churches. He later divorced his wife to marry television presenter, Elna Botha. Thereafter, it surfaced that Boesak misappropriated funds that were allocated to his Foundation of Peace and Justice. He had received a million dollar donation from the Danish aid agency Dan Church Aid, half of which he had taken for his own use. Other donations from the Coca Cola Company and singer Paul Simon were also thought to have been taken for Boesak's personal use. At the time that these allegations were made, Boesak was the ANC Western Cape president and the impending South African ambassador to the United Nations.
Boesak was charged with fraud and his trial began in 1998. On 18 December, a plea from the defense team was made for his acquittal. The presiding judge rejected this plea and postponed the case to the following year. Boesak was finally convicted on four counts of fraud and was sentenced to prison in 1999. In 2005, he received a presidential pardon and his criminal record was expunged. Boesak has since written a book on his experiences as a political activist titled Running with Horses: Reflections of an Accidental Politician.
