A bill of rights must come from your heart, your spirit

A bill of rights must come from your heart, your spirit - Albie Sachs

21 March 2019 8:49 AM

Bongani Bingwa speaks to retired Constitutional Court judge and human rights activist, Justice Albie Sachs on Human Rights Day.

The struggle for personal, human dignity was central in the struggle for freedom in South Africa and the cornerstone of democracy is the Bill of Rights.

Sachs reminisces about the years before liberation.

We never doubted that we would get freedom. 'Freedom in our lifetime' was our slogan.
— Albie Sachs, Former Constitutional Court judge and human rights activist

He describes how in the late 1980s, he sat in fellow activist Kader Asmal's kitchen in Dublin with a blank piece of paper in front of him.

I'd been asked by Oliver Tambo, on behalf of the ANC, to help draft a bill of rights for a future South Africa.
— Albie Sachs, Former Constitutional Court judge and human rights activist

I remember saying to myself, a bill of rights must come from your heart, your spirit. it must proclaim itself. What does it mean to be a human being?
— Albie Sachs, Former Constitutional Court judge and human rights activist

Listen to Albie Sachs inspirational memories about the creation of South Africa's bill of rights back in the late 80s:

Written by: Barbara Friedman