Barney Pityana | |
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| Born | Nyameko Barney Pityana (1945-08-07)7 August 1945 (age 80) |
| Citizenship | South African citizenship |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation(s) | Human rights lawyer, politician and theologian |
| Awards | Order of the Baobab in silver (2006) |
| Religion | Christianity (Anglican) |
| Church | Anglican Church of Southern Africa |
Nyameko Barney PityanaFKCGCOB (born 7 August 1945) is ahuman rights lawyer and theologian inSouth Africa. He is an exponent ofBlack theology.[1]
Pityana was born inUitenhage and attended theUniversity of Fort Hare. He was one of the founding members of theSouth African Students' Organisation of theBlack Consciousness Movement withSteve Biko andHarry Ranwedzi Nenwekhulu.[2] He was also a member of theAfrican National Congress Youth League,[citation needed] and was suspended for challenging the authority of theAfrikaans teachers and theapartheid principles of "Bantu education".[citation needed]
Pityana received a degree from theUniversity of South Africa in 1976 but was barred from practicing law inPort Elizabeth by theapartheid government.[citation needed] He was banned by the apartheid government from public activity.[citation needed] Pityana went into exile in 1978, studying theology atKing's College London and training for the ministryRipon College Cuddesdon inOxford.[3] Thereafter he served as anAnglican curate inMilton Keynes and as a vicar inBirmingham.[3] From 1988 to 1992 he was Director of the Programme to Combat Racism at theWorld Council of Churches in Geneva.[3]
Pityana returned to South Africa in 1993, following the end of apartheid. He continued working in theology and human rights, completing a PhD in Religious Studies at theUniversity of Cape Town in 1995.[3] He was appointed a member of theSouth African Human Rights Commission in 1995, and served as chairman of the commission from 1995 to 2001.[3] He also served on the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights at theOrganisation of African Unity in 1997. Professor Pityana became Vice-Chancellor and Principal for theUniversity of South Africa in 2001 and held the position for nine years.
In 2008 following the resignation of former PresidentThabo Mbeki as a President ofSouth Africa, Prof Pityana and other former prominentANC members formed a rival party to theANC calledCongress of the People. Those former ANC members and leaders includedAllan Aubrey Boesak,Mosiuoa Gerard Patrick Lekota,Smuts Ngonyama,William Mothipa Madisha,Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and many others who worked for the formation ofCOPE secretly.
Up to date, Prof Barney Pityana has not announced his return to theAfrican National Congress instead the cabinet that is led byCyril Ramaphosa appointed him at age 76 to chair theNational Lotteries Commission.
He was the rector of theCollege of the Transfiguration (Anglican) inGrahamstown (from 2011 until 2014),[4]
He is the President of Convocation of theUniversity of Cape Town.[5]
His work in human rights has been widely recognised, and in December 2002, he was awarded an Honourable Mention of the 2002UNESCOPrize for Human Rights Education.[6]
He is founder ofCongress of the People in 2008 and he has never made an announcement to leave it or join another political organisation. He is known to be a vocal critic of the former ANC leadership under Jacob Zuma,[7] called for the resignation of Zuma,[8] and has links with grassroots movements opposed to the ANC.[9]
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