A boycott by United Democratic Front co-founder and patron Dr Allan Boesak cast a shadow of controversy over the now-defunct organisation’s 20th anniversary on Wednesday.
Several hundred people, including a range of struggle stalwarts, attended an interfaith service in Cape Town’s St George’s Cathedral to mark the start of the commemorations, which will include a rally, dance and banquet.
But while several speakers paid tribute to Boesak, the cleric was noticeable by his absence.
Earlier in the day, he told journalists at a media briefing in Somerset West that he had been ”ostracised, ignored and discarded” by the African National Congress after he was jailed in 2000 for theft of donor funds from his Foundation for Peace and Justice.
”It became clear that for all intents and purposes I was being written out of the history of the struggle,” he said.
The ANC — which knew he was not guilty — had reneged on an undertaking to accept collective responsibility for what had been done with the money.
For this reason he would find it ”impossible” to participate in the 20th anniversary celebrations.
He also said that if he had taken the stand in his own defence in his trial, Archbishop Desmond Tutu could also have ended up facing criminal charges.
”If I had gone to testify I would have had to call as witnesses to corroborate my own testimony; people who were in official places in government, prominent places, people who had become important in the processes.
”For instance, I would have had to call Archbishop Desmond Tutu, to say to him, let us talk about the time that we had to work in the South African Council of Churches.”
He would have had to ask Tutu in court how much of the SACC’s work was underground and how much of the money used ”for certain purposes” could be talked about openly.
”And he would then have had to come and say. And if they [the authorities] had been, they would have been consistent, he would have had been charged [sic] with the same things that I’ve been charged.
”So it would have had enormous consequences. Not only him, there were others as well. And I thought I would not have been part of an effort to discredit the struggle,” he said.
Tutu, at home in Cape Town nursing a mild bout of flu, said in a statement in reaction that he was ”taken by surprise by remarks attributed to Boesak alleging inappropriate allocation of funds”.
He said the Eloff Commission, established in 1982 by then Prime Minister P W Botha to investigate the SACC, found no evidence of any financial mismanagement. He would welcome further investigations in this regard.
”I do hope that Rev Boesak’s remarks do not detract from today’s celebrations,” Tutu said.
”Our country is extremely indebted to the hundreds of thousands of ordinary South Africans who marched under the banner of the UDF for our freedom.”
ANC national spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama said it was unfortunate that Boesak had chosen not to accept a ”sincere acknowledgement” on the part of the ANC of his role as a leader of the UDF and his role in the struggle.
”The ANC has never abandoned Dr Boesak and had, in the past, continually expressed its support to him and his family at a time when a dark cloud hovered over his head.”
It was also unfortunate that Boesak had chosen to express his feelings in public and not meet leaders of the ANC to express his frustration.
”We are therefore surprised and disappointed that he has chosen to take this route in expressing his frustration.”
The ANC in the Western Cape said it was saddened that Boesak had decided not to participate, and was not prepared to enter into a public spat with him. – Sapa