The flamboyant cleric has shown he still evokes fierce loyalty among many in the Western Cape
Marianne Merten
On Tuesday morning Elna Boesak wore a purple suit, a pink turtleneck sweater, pale pink lipstick and a radiant smile. “I feel like a bride today,” she beamed. She had worn only widow’s black while her husband was in jail.
On Wednesday night the smiles of the African National Congress leadership who had organised a rally to welcome Allan Boesak back froze as he used their platform to slam comrades enriching themselves at the expense of the poor.
Hours after his release, the flamboyant liberation cleric turned Psalm 126 into a scathing allegory of South Africa today proving beyond doubt that time behind bars has not affected his renowned oratory skills.
“Exile is over but the liberation has not yet come. Everyone talks about freedom, but there is no freedom … for the poor, the weak, the powerless it makes no difference,” the feisty churchman and struggle icon preached at His People Church in Goodwood on Tuesday night.
Chants of “Amen”, “Talk, Boesak, talk” and “He’s back” reverberated among the 3 000-strong audience.
“No matter how romantic the revolution, liberation is incremental and the poor are the last in line … Apartheid is over, but apartheid is everywhere. Our rainbow nation baptised itself too soon. Our townships remain cesspools of crime, poverty and misery,” he thundered.
Boesak (55) orator, politician, child of God and convicted fraudster has shown he still evokes fierce loyalty among many in the Western Cape.
This is one reason the ANC paid tribute to “the role he played and continues to play in our transformation” and welcomed him back on Wednesday night, at a rally which started with a prayer.
Referring to the racially divided public debate on his early release on parole, Boesak joked that in his next life God should send him back as “a white cricket captain who gets indemnity before he’s investigated”.
But the smiles of top provincial ANC brass and MPs on the podium froze when the cleric again turned to the theme of the incomplete struggle.
His criticism of the comrades who “are so intent on becoming rich and so happy with their new status that they don’t care” was greeted by loud applause from the packed hall.
“You know, comrades, it’s a sad thing, but there has grown among us in the last few years a carelessness and a selfishness and a self-centredness that is in total contradiction to what we stand for. Until we change that attitude, the struggle is not yet over.”
Calls of “Boesak for premier”, “Speak, pastor, speak”, and shouts of agreement were heard throughout his speech.
So far the cleric has remained coy over speculation on a return to politics. Even if a political post were on the cards, Boesak would have to wait five years. Independent Electoral Commission regulations stipulate this for anyone sentenced to more than 12 months’ imprisonment without the option of a fine. It is unclear whether the waiting period starts on the day of release on parole or when parole ends in Boesak’s case on July 14 2002.
In the meantime he is writing two books on theology and politics, in which he has promised to engage President Thabo Mbeki’s “African renaissance” on a “theological level”, and one on his trials and tribulations over the past seven years.
Boesak’s support since his release included donations from the audience at the thanksgiving service, and a bodyguard from his “friend”, gang boss Rashied Staggie.
“I’ve known Allan Boesak for a long time. Friends must be supported. He is a leader,” says Staggie, who claims he has renounced his criminal ways since finding the Lord two years ago.
Boesak maintains he was wrongly jailed. “I don’t know how these people who sent me to prison sleep at night.
“A year in prison is a very long time and when you are my age every day feels like six months,” he said.
But he had a word of thanks for prison authorities, although it did not extend to the food. “We will not say anything about the food,” he laughed about his discovery of a new dish “unrecognisable chicken”. “It took me three weeks to figure out what it was. I still haven’t figured out what was in it.”