# Andrew Boraine Andrew Boraine is a prominent South African expert in urban and economic development, systems change, and multi-stakeholder partnering. With five decades of experience, he has transitioned from a high-profile anti-apartheid student leader and activist to a key architect of South Africa's post-apartheid local government structures. He is widely recognized for his work in "collaborative intermediaries" — organizations that bridge the gap between government, business, and civil society to solve complex urban challenges. **Online:** [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-boraine/) | [EDP Profile](https://wcedp.co.za/divi_overlay/andrew-boraine/) **Organization:** Independent partnering practitioner / [[African Centre for Cities]] (ACC, UCT) / Centre for Sustainability Transitions ([[Stellenbosch University]]) **Location:** Cape Town, South Africa --- ## Entries ### Political background Boraine's career began in the anti-apartheid movement. He was elected National President of the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS) in 1980 and 1981, and was a founding member of the [[United Democratic Front (UDF)]] in 1983. He was detained without trial several times and placed under house arrest by the apartheid government. Following the transition to democracy, he was appointed Deputy Director-General in the Department of Constitutional Development under Nelson Mandela's administration. In this role, he assisted in drafting the local government chapter of the South African Constitution, which redefined municipalities as an equal sphere of government rather than subordinates to provincial or national authorities. ### Urban leadership and the Cape Town Partnership As the first post-apartheid City Manager of Cape Town (1997–2001), Boraine led the amalgamation of racially segregated municipal administrations into a single unified body. In 2001, he became Special Advisor to the Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs. In 2003, he joined the Cape Town Partnership (CTP) (an organization he had helped establish during his time as City Manager) serving as its CEO for nearly a decade (2003–2013). Under his leadership, the CTP was credited with the regeneration of Cape Town's Central Business District, turning a declining urban core into a hub for investment and mixed-use development. ### The EDP and systems change In 2012, Boraine founded the [[Western Cape Economic Development Partnership (EDP)]], serving as its CEO until March 2023. The EDP focuses on "[[Public-Private Partnerships|partnering solutions]]" to address systemic challenges in water governance, energy, and food security. Boraine's approach draws on "New Localism" thinking — a framework developed by Bruce Katz and Jeremy Nowak ([[Brookings Institution]]) — which holds that local problems are best solved through [[Place-Based Philanthropy|place-based coalitions]] involving government, philanthropy, academia, and the private sector rather than top-down state mandates. He currently serves as an independent partnering practitioner, an adjunct professor at the [[African Centre for Cities (UCT)]], and a research fellow at the Centre for Sustainability Transitions ([[Stellenbosch University]]).