Politician and academic. Served in parliament as a member of the Progressive Party from 1974. In 1986 he resigned and co-founded the Institute for Democratic Alternatives in South Africa (IDASA) together with Frederik Van Zyl Slabbert. In 1995, he was appointed by President Nelson Mandela to be the deputy chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, serving under Archbishop Desmond Tutu. 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.