Boesak hit by second aid crisis
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Cape Town (AFP) - South Africa's ambassador-designate to the United Nations in Geneva, Allan Boesak, was found by a legal inquiry yesterday to have misappropriated money given to his aid agency by Scandinavian donors, throwing his posting into fur ther doubt.
The controversial former church leader "enriched himself substantially" at the expense of his Foundation for Peace and Justice, according to the conclusions of the inquiry, conducted by a Johannesburg legal firm for the Danish donor organisation, Danchurch Aid.
Mr Boesak's UN posting was put on ice by President Nelson Mandela last month pending the conclusion of the inquiry. A presidential spokesman said a decision would be taken before the end of the week.
Mr Boesak was already reeling from allegations that his foundation misused funds donated by the American singer, Paul Simon, to a charity for child victims of apartheid. The Archbishop of Cape Town, Desmond Tutu, said on Monday that he had called in police after preliminary investigations had shown no record of 423,000 rand (£76,500) donated by Simon to the Children's Trust, administered by the Foundation for Peace and Justice.
Late last year, Danchurch Aid and two other funding organisations in Sweden and Norway engaged a Johannesburg legal firm to examine the use of 2.7m rand donated to Mr Boesak's foundation. The report hit out at the foundation's trustees, calling the "cavalier and reckless fashion" in which they carried out their duties "astounding". It quoted one trustee, the Rev Pierre van den Heever, as acknowledging: "We buggered it up."
The foundation director, Freddy Steenkamp, who has already admitted taking a loan of 800,000 rand, had "committed serious criminal offences". Mr Boesak, the report said, "has enriched himself substantially at the expense of the foundation". His explanation to date is that he did not know how his financial affairs were being conducted by Mr Steenkamp.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments