The former Vice-Chairperson of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), Dr Alex Boraine, has passed away  in Constantia, Cape Town, at the age of 87.

His son, Jeremy Boraine, says his father succumbed to health problems resulting from old age.

“We mourn the passing of Alex Boraine who died peacefully at his home in Cape Town this morning. He is survived by his wife Jennifer Boraine, his 4 children, Andrew, Catherine, Jeremy and Nicholas, their spouses and 7 grandchildren.

“We remember him first as a loving and wise husband, father and grandfather. We salute his lifelong dedication to non-racialism, human rights, democracy and social justice in South Africa and around the world. Most of all he inspired us with his passion for life and his big heart,” says Boraine.

Time and Life of Dr. Boraine

Dr. Alex Boraine (born 1931) is a South African politician. He was born in Cape Town.

Having been ordained as a Methodist minister in 1956, he studied at Rhodes University in South Africa, Oxford University in England, and Drew University in the United States.[1]

In 1970 he was appointed youngest-ever President of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, a position he held until 1972.

He was elected to parliament as an MP for the Progressive Party in 1974. He resigned in 1986 and, together with Frederik Van Zyl Slabbert, founded IDASA, which organized the 1987 Dakar Conference with ANC leaders in Dakar, Senegal.[2]

From 1986 to 1995, Dr. Boraine headed two South African nonprofit organizations concerned with ending apartheid and addressing the legacy it left behind.[3]

In 1995, he was appointed by President Nelson Mandela to be its deputy chair serving under Chairman Archbishop Desmond Tutu from 1996 to 1998.

From 1998 through early 2001, he served as professor of law at New York University and as director of the New York University Law School’s Justice in Transition program.

In 2001 Dr. Boraine co-founded the International Center for Transitional Justice – an international human rights NGO. He served as ICTJ’s president for three years, and subsequently, the chairperson of ICTJ’s South Africa office.