South African high court justice speaks of hope, recovery

South African High Court Justice Albie Sachs spoke at the UW School of Law yesterday.

Sachs has earned worldwide recognition for his integral role in the reformation of South Africa as a constitutional democracy. Sachs' accomplishments and accolades are plentiful, including human rights defender, High Court justice and peace activist.

Sachs spoke softly to the large audience, leaning one arm on the podium [HTML_REMOVED] he lost his right arm and his sight in one eye to a government-rigged car bomb nearly 10 years ago [HTML_REMOVED] and peppered his lecture with jokes. He began his presentation with a film about the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg, where he and the other justices serve.

Sachs said the court building itself holds particular historical significance in South Africa. It was built on the site of what was once a high security prison and fort during the height of the repressive Apartheid regime.

Historically, the fourth building within this complex [HTML_REMOVED] which was referred to simply and ominously as "Number Four" [HTML_REMOVED] served as a holding cell for the hundreds of thousands of blacks incarcerated by the government. Prisoners in "Number Four" have included Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi.

The prison was closed in 1983 and the empty building remained in Johannesburg as a painful reminder of a bleak past.

When the Constitutional Court was established in 1994, the site was chosen as the location for the new court building, precisely because of its past as a symbol of injustice and repression.

"We had to be where we are because of the history," Sachs said. "We wanted that site because of the pain that is buried there waiting to come out [HTML_REMOVED] the negativity in the bars and in the bricks. We are turning negativity into positivity."

The resultant building is architecturally unique and full of collected artworks that speak to South Africa's culture, history and transformation. Sachs explained that the design of the building is meant to reflect a distinctly South African aesthetic.

"We did not want to model our court on another court, like the U.S. Supreme Court [HTML_REMOVED] which is itself a copy of buildings in Rome and Greece," he said. "We did not want a copy of a copy. We, as South Africans, have been so long under the imposition of other people's ideas, it's as if we are eternal students at the table of good manners. This is our own building, our own ambience, our own presence."

Sachs concluded on a personal note about what it's like to be in his position.

"I recently realized that I felt a distinct and intense sort of glow when coming to work at the court, and not everyone can say that," he said. "There are good days and bad days and headache days. But I always feel this glow."

A pictorial book of the South African Constitutional Court building will soon be available at the University Book Store.

"Wherever I go in South Africa today, or in anywhere else in the world for that matter I still feel that I am a white person in a white area, or in an area where I am an outsider," Sachs said. "I have spent my whole life fighting racism. But, when I come to work, I am just Albie coming to work. That is the source of my special delight."

Reach reporter Siv Prince at news@thedaily.washington.edu.