Mary Burton joined the Black Sash in 1965. She served as the National President of the Black Sash from 1986 to 1990, and is currently a member of its Board of Trustees. In 1994 she served as the Provincial Electoral Officer for the Western Cape province in the country’s first national democratic elections. In 1995 she was appointed by then President Nelson Mandela as a Commissioner with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. She is a previous member of the Council of the University of Cape Town, and a past president of UCT’s Convocation. She has a BA degree from UCT (1982), and in 2011 the university awarded her the degree of Doctor of Social Science, honoris causa. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Imam Abdullah Haron Education Trust.
Awards: Order of Luthuli (silver), 2003; Member of the Order of the Disa, 2004.
