Rev. Bongani Finca

Rev. Finca is an ordained cleric and Commissioner of the Electoral Commission of South Africa. He has been involved all his life in issues of democracy and social justice. His field of training is in Christian doctrine and ethics.

He joined the Electoral Commission in 1998 when he was appointed as the Provincial Electoral Officer of the Eastern Cape.

He spent the early years of his working life in the pastoral ministry and then became an Executive Director of a Christian publishing house. In the period leading to the 1994 elections he was involved in the activities of the transformation of the country from apartheid to democracy.

This led to his appointment by the Transitional Executive Council as the Interim Administrator of the so-called “homeland of the Ciskei”. In this capacity he was charged with the responsibility of managing the entire administration of the homeland and overseeing its re-incorporation into the Republic of South Africa in 1994.

In 1995 he was appointed a member of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission. He served in the Human Rights Violations Committee and became the Commissioner responsible for the work of the TRC in the Province of the Eastern Cape.

At various times he has served as a Member of the Governing Councils of several academic institutions viz. the Federal Theological Seminary of Southern Africa, University of Fort Hare, Border Technikon and the Interim Council of Walter Sisulu University.

In recognition of his leadership in various institutions, he was awarded an honorary doctoral degree by the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in the United States of America in 2008.