OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Monday 6.45pm.
A HANDFUL of supporters gathered outside the Cape Town High Court on Monday waving placards in support of former anti-apartheid activist and cleric Allan Boesak who entered his first day on trial for 32 counts of fraud and theft.
Forensic accountant Dawn King gave comprehensive details of the financial transactions between the Foundation for Peace and Justice, which Boesak set up during the apartheid years to raise overseas funds for upliftment programmes, and the numerous trusts and donor agencies used to raise funds.
Western Cape Deputy Attorney-General JC Gerber told the court that Boesak approached the Coca-Cola Foundation for $50000 to assist a project called Caravans for Carnarvon in the Northern Cape. When the aid was granted, Boesak allegedly used the money to repay costs incurred in trying to get another overseas project off the ground. This was in spite of the stipulation by Coca-Cola that the funds were to be used only for the Carnarvon project..
Boesak is also accused of withholding R259161,21 of a donation of $350000 to the Children’s Trust by American singer Paul Simon. He is accused of later using these funds to financially shore up the FPJ, which was in dire financial straits at the time..
Boesak said quietly in the dock as Gerber gave details of the charges against him. His wife, the supposed beneficiary of some of the funds, sat in the row behind him. The trial has been set down for three months and more than 160 witnesses have been subpoenaed to testify.