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George Bizos played a key role in South Africa’s democracy and is one of the founding fathers of the country’s Constitution.
George Bizos. Image: Christa Eybers / EWN
JOHANNESBURG – Attorney George Bizos died Wednesday.
Bizos loved to tell the story of the phone call he received from Cyril Ramaphosa, with a message from Nelson Mandela asking him to join the team in drafting the Constitution.
He did not hesitate, and his only question was whether he would have to join the African National Congress (ANC).
“When Mr. Nelson Mandela was released, the current vice president’s farm story [Cyril Ramaphosa]It was’ George, Nelson told me; and tell Arthur Chaskalson that you two have the role of making the Constitution for South Africa. “Oh thanks Cyril … does that mean I have to become a member of the ANC?” and he said, ‘no, don’t worry about it.’
By this stage, Bizos had already earned the respect of Madiba, his treason trial partners, and the ANC.
He was widely praised as an anti-apartheid activist and human rights defender.
During World War II, 13-year-old Bizos fled Nazi-occupied Greece and would play a pivotal role in South Africa’s democracy.
He was born on November 15, 1927.
Bizos came to South Africa with his father in 1941 and first settled in Durban.
Six years later, he applied to study medicine at the University of the Witwatersrand.
His request was rejected, so he opted for the law and that was where his political activism flared.
Bizos represented various political activists in high-profile cases during his career, and he never stopped working, even in his old age.
He also represented families of victims of the apartheid era, including the Cradock Four widows who were brutally murdered by security forces.
In 2012, the veteran human rights lawyer led the South African Human Rights Commission in the investigation of the Marikana Massacre, which left 34 miners killed by police and 78 others injured.
Bizos drew parallels between the violence in the platinum belt and the Sharpville massacre of 1960.
He later faced the miners’ cause in court.
In the investigation into the murder of political activist Ahmed Timol, an emotional Bizos spoke of the importance of constantly seeking justice.
“Justice is something to be pursued, a single trial can help; and I’m sure it will. I want to congratulate the Timol family and the extended family who took the battle. We have been working on it for almost two and a half years ”.
His work also crossed borders.
In 2004 he represented the late Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai after the Zimbabwean government accused him of high treason.
The human rights defender was also passionate about education and in the 1970s he helped found the Saheti Greek School in Johannesburg.
Praised as the stalwart of the stalwart fight, Bizos was also a family man.
He was married to Rita Daflos, who died in 2017, just before his 90th birthday.
Together they had three children.
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