About this site

This resource is hosted by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, but was compiled and authored by Padraig O’Malley. It is the product of almost two decades of research and includes analyses, chronologies, historical documents, and interviews from the apartheid and post-apartheid eras.

Burton, Mary

Click here for list of interviews

Mary Burton was born in Argentina and came to South Africa, to live in Cape Town, in 1961, at the time of her marriage to Cape Town businessman Geoff Burton. They have four sons and nine grandchildren, all living in Cape Town.

Within a few years of her arrival, Burton had joined the Black Sash, an organisation of women committed to human rights and opposed to apartheid.

She served as National President of the Black Sash from 1986 to 1990, and is currently a member of its Board of Trustees.

In 1995 she was appointed as a Commissioner on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and served until 1998 when the TRC Report was presented to then President Mandela.

This resource is hosted by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, but was compiled and authored by Padraig O’Malley. Return to theThis resource is hosted by the site.