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President Cyril Ramaphosa delivers a eulogy at the special official funeral of human rights lawyer and social activist George Bizos, held at the Greek Orthodox Church in Johannesburg. (Photo: Elmond Njiyane GCIS)
Human rights lawyer George Bizos was laid to rest at a special official funeral at the Greek Orthodox Church in Johannesburg on Thursday. Bizos, who passed away last week at the age of 92, was remembered as a humble man, upright and, above all, a passionate advocate for justice.
“Our family has shared our father with the nation for so many years: why should his passing be any different?” asked Alexi, the son of George Bizos.
At Bizos’s funeral, luminaries from the political, legal and civil society spheres shared space with friends and family of the veteran defender at an event Alexi Bizos hinted that it had been a challenge to organize. Due to Covid-19 lockdown restrictions, the number of mourners within the Greek Orthodox Church was limited.
Beyond that, as Alexi put it, was the desire to pay tribute to Bizos in all the roles he played during his extraordinary 92 years of life: as the preeminent defense attorney for the Wrestling, as a South African man who never forgot his proud Greek heritage, as a friend to many and a devoted family man.
“His life was so great,” said his son, his voice cracking at times as he read Bizos’s obituary.
One theme constantly emerged from the Bizos tributes: the defender’s unwavering commitment to doing the right thing.
“When it was not in style, particularly for white South Africans, George Bizos chose the side of the powerless,” said former Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke, who started out in law as the son of Bizos.
Drawing on Bizos ‘memoirs, President Cyril Ramaphosa attributed his commitment to defending members of the anti-apartheid movement to Bizos’ own experience of “being a second-class citizen in the land of his birth” after he was forced to to flee his native Greece as a refugee from the Nazi occupation.
“He was amazed that he, a refugee from Europe, had more rights in South Africa than the majority black,” Ramaphosa said.
“He could not and did not want to accept that he, a white immigrant, could be well fed, clothed and educated while the natives of the country lived in misery and deprivation.”
Although Bizos was well known for his special relationship with Nelson Mandela, mourners were reminded that he also stood up for many other activists in the struggle: including Barbara Hogan, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela more than 20 times, and the late Ronnie Mamoepa.
He also acted on behalf of those who defended freedom and democracy in other countries, including the late Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
Moseneke said that Bizos’ support for his clients extended well beyond the courtroom. Bizos visited Mandela and other Robben Island detainees during their years of incarceration, and “provided unfailing support to [Mandela’s] family”.
Although Bizos never joined the ANC, Mandela trusted him so much that he served as the late president’s emissary for discussions with the ANC in exile.
Speakers highlighted the fact that Bizos’ passion for justice did not diminish with the transition to democracy.
“As if he hadn’t done enough, George Bizos was there for the families of the miners in Marikana,” Moseneke said.
Ramaphosa described Bizos as acting “on behalf of the vulnerable” when “the democratic government failed to fulfill its obligations or when big business abused its power.”
Bizos was officially stateless for 31 years, both as a refugee from Greece and with the apartheid government of his new homeland determined to deny him South African citizenship on the grounds that he was “out of shape.”
However, he maintained great love and loyalty towards both countries.
Greece’s Ambassador to South Africa, Roussos Koundouros, paid tribute to Bizos’ work to build close bilateral relations between South Africa and Greece.
“[Bizos] It marked a generation of South African Greeks who lived and worked here and who contributed substantially to social pluralism and general progress, ”said Koundouros.
Alexi Bizos said that when his father was asked who he would support in a soccer match between South Africa and Greece, “he would say he expected it to be a draw.”
Bizos was remembered as a great Greek storyteller. Moseneke recalled lunches at Bizos’s house, with salad chosen from the lawyer’s precious garden, where Bizos used to say:
Listens. It is an authentic story of a Greek people. When you are in a Greek town and you want to sell a donkey, you better spread the word that you want to buy a donkey. “
The reason? “That way, you quickly learn the current price.”
Among the family members who spoke at the funeral, Bizos was described as a man of deep humility who rejected materialism.
Bizos’s grandson, Nicolás, related that he visited Greece with his grandfather a few years ago, where the organizers of a talk that Bizos was scheduled to give offered to hire a driver to pick him up. Bizos refused, claiming that: “I didn’t want the story to think it was so important that it needed a car to find me.”
Reflecting on the pain of his grandfather’s death, Nicholas said: “The problem with having someone as revered as Papou is that you come to believe that he is immortal.”
Bizos was buried in the Westpark Cemetery, with a South African flag on his coffin.
Ultimately, Ramaphosa said: “He was the embodiment of a proper and proper South African citizen.” DM
