THE REV Dr Allan Boesak, the black cleric who battled apartheid with Archbishop Desmond Tutu through five bleak years of South African emergency rule, was charged in absentia yesterday with fraud and theft from western donors.
The state prosecutor, Mr Steven Powell, said Dr Boesak, who is teaching theology in California, and a former bookkeeper, Mr Freddie Steenkamp, faced nine counts of fraud and 21 counts of theft.
He said the victims included Scandinavian aid agencies, Coca Cola and American musician Paul Simon, who donated proceeds from his Gracelands album to anti-apartheid projects managed by Dr-Boesak.
Dr Boesak, a former president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, has been under investigation for more than two years over the alleged disappearance or misuse of mainly Danish and Swedish funds totalling close to two million rand ($422,000).
Dr Boesak was cleared in an investigation by lawyers appointed by the Deputy President, Mr Thabo Mbeki. But donors, including DanChurch Aid, insisted on a further investigation.