Albie

This evening I met a man who is so famous in SA he's refered to in the media as just as "Albie" ("like Elvis", as one of his friends said) - Albie Sachs, fighter in the freedom struggle, imprisoned, exiled, and now a Justice on the Constitutional Court. An attempt was made on his life by the SA security forces in 1988 - a bomb was put in his car; he lost most of his right arm and the sight in his right eye. When he meets you he promptly holds out his left hand so you know what to do. Tonight he was helping to present a new book on the art works in the Constitutional Court, and his presentation was generous to a fault - he made the choir sing a few times, encouraged the audience to join them on stage, called up everyone he recognised in the audience to thank them and hug them, and said almost nothing about his own role in creating the art collection. He passed on a nugget of wisdom from his grandmother - "never steal anything, except books" (which must have made the publishers nervous - there were stacks of the new book everywhere). An extraordinary man. I felt the power of his enthusiasm for life - and his survival - just in those few minutes.

To get a sense of Albie's intelligence and charisma, try a part of this interview. He also talks about the bombing.