Voices From Sa

Albie Sachs was blown up by apartheid security forces in Maputo in 1988\. He survived solitary confinement, exile and the attack to become one of the architects of the South African constitution, and a Constitutional Court judge. We spoke about the debate around including a bill of rights in the new constitution, his meeting with the person who planned his assassination, and the concept of soft vengeance. "Surviving the attack transformed my life. I had a sense of rejuvenation. Learning to write gave me sense of excitement. I wanted to show my mum. The physical recovery went with the sense of joy and elation that as I healed my country would heal."