The Inkatha Freedom Party on Monday reacted to cleric Allan Boesak’s presidential pardon by focusing on the 394 names it has also submitted for pardon.
It was announced over the weekend that Boesak had been granted a presidential pardon, which expunged his criminal record of fraud and theft relating to his tenure as chairperson of the Foundation for Peace and Justice.
He served two years of his six-year sentence and was released on parole.
“It is unimaginable that the presidential pardon of Dr Allan Boesak is merely an isolated case,” IFP chief whip Koos van der Merwe said in a statement.
“The IFP trusts that this pardon is merely the tip of the iceberg and that numerous other pardons will now follow. The IFP has submitted 394 names for pardon to the president on behalf of prisoners who committed crimes with political motives.
“Numerous other applications were also submitted by other interested parties and nothing has been done so far.”
Van der Merwe called for a “comprehensive grand reconciliation amnesty by the president”.
Former leading anti-apartheid activist Boesak plans to remain in the church and will do part-time pastoral work in a congregation in Piketberg in the Western Cape.
Earlier, Pan Africanist Congress president Motsoko Pheko said he is indignant that Boesak has been allowed to “jump the queue” while former PAC freedom fighters have been languishing in jail since 1995. — Sapa
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