Retired Constitutional and High court judge, Albie Sachs in JB Marks

The anti-apartheid activist suffered a tragic incident in Mozambique while in exile when a car bomb blew-off his arm, and he lost sight in one eye.

‘When I heard a voice in the darkness saying, “You have to face the future with courage, it is a car bomb”, I thought I was being kidnapped. I had a sense of joy that I had lost an arm. I believed that, as I get better, so my country would also get better,’ he told the audience at the Dan Tloome Chambers.

Sachs detailed a long history of events dating back to the Sharpeville massacre, the treason trial, the Bill of Rights, and SA’s constitution.

‘If the customs officials had to ask Oliver Reginald Tambo, on his return after 30 years of exile, if he had anything to declare, he would have said the following: ‘Firstly, the ANC was intact with diverse cultures; secondly, he led a campaign for the release of Mandela and others and, thirdly, he came with the foundations of the new Constitution of South Africa,’ he said.

He touched on what Tambo would think if he were alive today.

‘The democratic ideals like the freedom of speech and regular free and fair elections would please him very much. Tlokwe has also contributed a lot to how the elections were conducted. The IEC was sleeping and you woke them up. Thank you for the contribution in the jurisprudence,’ he said.

The charismatic former judge says OR would ask if this is the country they were fighting for – riddled with inequality, racism, crime corruption and unemployment. ‘Is this the country we fought for? ‘Yes, but this is not the society we fought for,’ he said.

‘Tambo would have been full of admiration for the Constitutional Court; ninety per cent of homes now have water and electricity and a third of the population receives social grants. There’s is a constitution that recognises gender rights, socio-economic rights, freedom from violence and strong workers’ rights,’ said Sachs.

In 1994, Sachs says he dropped out of the ANC, ‘not because it failed me – because it was mission accomplished. You cannot be a judge and owe loyalty to a party and country.’

Kelvin Johnson, ANC ward councillor and MMC for Finance asked the judge how he feels when ANC veterans like Kgalema Motlanthe declare that ANC must go down. ‘The ANC is the only party that can take the country forward,’ declared Johnson.

Albie Sachs responded by touching on countries like Mexico and India where the dominant parties lost power to other parties. ‘It’s not that India went to the dogs, it is still there. This could happen in South Africa,’ he remarked.

He described Kgalema Motlanthe as a thoughtful leader who was speaking on behalf of the veterans. ‘People are critical but I don’t see them as anti-ANC.’

‘SA is a mature democracy but not a mature country; inequalities are still deeply entrenched. There is still a lot of white land ownership. There has to be transformation. However,’ he warned’ ‘OR would never argue that land should be taken without compensation.’