{"id":182554,"date":"2018-07-18T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-07-18T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/182554\/mandela-south-africas-golden-friendship\/"},"modified":"2018-07-17T15:58:29","modified_gmt":"2018-07-17T13:58:29","slug":"mandela-south-africas-golden-friendship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/news-headlines\/2018\/07\/18\/mandela-south-africas-golden-friendship\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa’s golden friendship"},"content":{"rendered":"

Advocate George Bizos has solidified himself as part of South Africa\u2019s history, but nothing stands out more than his friendship with late President Nelson Mandela.<\/p>\n

The two met at Wits when the late president was a third-year law student, ahead of Bizos in 1948.<\/p>

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Mandela came to Johannesburg and became friends with Walter Sisulu.<\/p>\n

\u201cSisulu being a black businessman, had a group of three white attorneys and they used Mandela as a clerk,\u201d Bizos told the NEWS in an interview in June this year.<\/p>

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The election in 1948 was followed by controversy at Wits with the use of black students, which was contrary to policy at that time.<\/p>\n

Bizos said that led to the first expulsion of a black student which lead to protests, particularly by the Student Representative Council, which was ignored.<\/p>\n

Bizos gave a speech about the unfair treatment of the black students at Wits.<\/p>\n

His passion came from being a refugee most of his life and witnessing black South Africans’ struggle. Bizos sees his grandfather and father as inspiration to stand up for what is right.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf wanting equal treatment for all makes me a leftist, then I am proudly one,\u201d Bizos said during his speech which captured the attention of Mandela.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wanted to know who I am, where I come from and what am I doing,\u201d Bizos said.<\/p>\n

They met at the Great Hall at Wits where they had their first conversation which lasted hours.<\/p>\n

Not long afterwards, Bizos got a job at an attorney\u2019s office and he would often have lunch with Mandela at a Chinese restaurant.<\/p>\n

When Bizos became Mandela’s legal representative, the friendship further blossomed.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy that time, Mandela was more of a family man and he often asked me for advice,\u201d said Bizos. They started working together on cases.<\/p>\n

\u201cI married in 1954 and Mandela came to prepare papers at the house I was staying at. It was the house of a friend who was out of the country with his wife.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy friend\u2019s daughters remained and they saw me and Mandela working on the papers. I could hear giggling. It was obvious they were giggling at Nelson because of his race. I was embarrassed and annoyed,\u201d said Bizos.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou must come to my house as a white person and you will probably hear giggling as well,\u201d Mandela jokingly told Bizos at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI became his favourite,\u201d said Bizos.<\/p>\n

The day he got married to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Mandela called Bizos.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe told me his new bride had been arrested for assaulting a policeman,\u201d said Bizos who went on to represent Winnie on \u00adseveral occasions.<\/p>\n

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Mandela had two daughters with Winnie, who had to go to Swaziland while Mandela was in prison.<\/p>\n

Bizos said Mandela asked him to look after his family, but that Winnie was independent.<\/p>\n

\u201cWinnie didn\u2019t require much help, she had a job and visited Nelson regularly,\u201d said Bizos.<\/p>\n

Treason Trial:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bizos said during the Treason Trial he was more of a helper and did research on the case.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring this time Mandela was mostly concerned about his children and Winnie.<\/p>\n

\u201cWinnie went to court every day, dressed in tribal clothing and she organised support for Mandela for the duration of the trial,\u201d said Bizos.<\/p>\n

Bizos said his talks with Mandela were mainly about politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was impressed by the things I spoke about. He was also interested in Greece,\u201d said Bizos.<\/p>\n

After his release from prison and the end of his marriage to Winnie, Bizos and Mandela spent two weeks together in Greece.<\/p>\n

\u201cMandela was influenced by Greek politics. We were in Athens on the top floor of a hotel. Mandela looked out of the window and he asked me, \u2018George, are you sure I haven’t been here before?’ We had fun in Greece,\u201d Bizos told the NEWS.<\/p>\n

They went to the seafront on a Sunday afternoon to a restaurant and Mandela wanted three tables for guest including his security.<\/p>\n

The restaurant had a rope around the tables for Mandela and guests, when he noticed children coming up and greeting him.<\/p>\n

Bizos said Mandela asked the owner of the restaurant to release the rope and to let the children come up to greet him.<\/p>\n

Later years:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Later in Mandela\u2019s life, Bizos went to visit him at his home in Houghton after receiving a call from his wife Gra\u00e7a Machel that Mandela requested to see him.<\/p>\n

Bizos said Mandela\u2019s memory was affected by this time.\u201cMandela sat at the head of the table and his wife on the right. I sat on his left and habitually they had a late afternoon lunch. He loved lamb from a spit-braai. Nelson asked me about the ANC and he had a few concerns about government. He wanted to know about my work and asked about my family,\u201d said Bizos.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was very serious about my well-being while I was worried about his well-being. He would assume I wore a jacket, which I had left in my car, and would say, \u2018Hey George, don\u2019t leave your jacket behind\u2019,\u201d said Bizos.<\/p>\n

Bizos said when it came to politics and after his presidency, Mandela had a tendency not to make any public statements, especially about the ANC.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe only broke it once or twice. Once when he spoke to Mbeki about recognising HIV\/Aids as a huge problem. He was passionate about this. He only spoke about politics privately,\u201d said Bizos.<\/p>\n

People often asked Bizos how they could appease Mandela.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have money, build a school or a hospital. I will come and speak,\u201d Mandela told Bizos in response.<\/p>\n

He said that businessmen had to justify why they want to use him for any sort of business.<\/p>\n

Bizos said that for him it came naturally to appease Mandela.<\/p>\n

His misses his friend’s humorous nature.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mother-in-law came for lunch in the northern suburbs one late afternoon, and after lunch I would take her home. Before I took her home I was asked by Mandela to do a talk and I went to his home in Houghton with my mother-in-law. I went inside to read the draft to him and it took about 10 minutes. Mandela walked me out to my car and saw my mother-in-law in the car and said to her, \u2018What sort of a mother-in-law are you to allow your son-in-law to treat you so badly by leaving you in a car alone.’ She just laughed,\u201d said Bizos.<\/p>\n

\u201cI miss how generous he was. I miss that about him. You didn’t need to be a top politician to be his friend,\u201d said Bizos.<\/p>\n

He said he also appreciated the time Mandela took with Saheti School in Bedfordview of which Bizos is a co-founder.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe became very interested in the educational standard of Saheti School. He visited the school regularly. He would’ve been particularly pleased with the school when 1 000 students applauded the election of a black girl as head girl, last year at Saheti School\u201d said Bizos.<\/p>\n

Bizos said that Mandela was always concerned about the people of SA as a whole.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was serious and meant it when he said South Africa belongs to all who live in it.\u201d<\/p>\n