World Notes SOUTH AFRICA

As a clergyman and a leading spokesman for mixed-race South Africans, the Rev. Allan Boesak was known for invoking his moral authority to speak against apartheid. That authority all but evaporated last week when he was forced to resign his ministry after the press disclosed that he was having an extramarital affair with a television producer, Elna Botha, 30.

The minister, who is expected to be divorced by his wife of 21 years, tearfully announced the resignation to his stunned congregation at the Dutch Reformed Mission Church near Cape Town. But he assured his parishioners that he had done "nothing immoral." The African National Congress said it is "reassessing" his role in the liberation struggle. And the Cape Times suggested that the scandal might benefit Boesak's political fortunes: "A little humility did nobody any harm."