Why Institutions Matter - The South African Experience
Two figures central to South Africa's democratic transition examine what makes institutions resilient and what makes them vulnerable. Lord Peter Hain, lifelong anti-apartheid campaigner and former British Cabinet minister, and Justice Albie Sachs - who lost an arm and his sight in one eye to a bomb planted by apartheid security agents, before going on to help draft the post-apartheid constitution and shape the character of the Constitutional Court - draw on South Africa's hard-won experience to explore lessons that resonate far beyond its borders.
Speakers
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Justice Albie SachsHuman Rights Lawyer, Anti-apartheid Activist, and Former Justice of the Constitutional Court of South AfricaJustice Albie Sachs
Human Rights Lawyer, Anti-apartheid Activist, and Former Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa
Albie Sachs is an activist, writer and former judge on the Constitutional Court of South Africa (1994–2009). He completed his BA LLB at the University of Cape Town in 1956 and began practising as an advocate at the Cape Bar at the age of 21. Much of his work involved defending people charged under racist statutes and repressive security laws. Sachs was raided by the security police, subjected to banning orders, and placed in solitary confinement without trial for two spells of detention.
In 1966, Sachs went into exile in England and completed his PhD at the University of Sussex in 1971. He moved to Maputo in 1977 to take up a position as a law professor at Eduardo Mondlane University. In 1988, a bomb placed in his car by South African security agents caused him to lose an arm and sight in his right eye.
During the 1980s, while working closely with Oliver Tambo, President of the African National Congress (ANC) in exile, Sachs helped to draft the organisation’s Code of Conduct and statutes. After recovering from the bomb, he devoted himself full-time to preparations for a democratic Constitution.
In 1990, he returned to South Africa and continued his work on the ANC’s Constitutional Committee and National Executive Committee. After the first democratic election in 1994, President Nelson Mandela appointed him to the Constitutional Court. Sachs was noted for his judgments and for shaping the character of the Court building and its artworks collection.
He has published 10 books, including The Jail Diary of Albie Sachs; The Soft Vengeance of a Freedom Fighter and The Strange Alchemy of Life and Law (both Alan Paton Award winners); Justice in South Africa; Sexism and the Law; We, the People: Insights of an Activist Judge; and Oliver Tambo’s Dream.
In January 2025, to mark his 90th birthday, an online resource entitled The Albie Collection: A curated conspectus of the Life, Love, Law, Literature and Laughter of Albie Sachs was launched (www.thealbiecollection.org).
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Lord Peter HainFormer Anti-apartheid Campaigner and Member, House of LordsLord Peter Hain
Former Anti-apartheid Campaigner and Member, House of Lords
The child of South African parents jailed, banned and forced into exile during the freedom struggle, aged 19 from 1969-70 Peter Hain led anti-apartheid campaigns to stop all-white South African sports tours – and in retaliation was sent a letter bomb, framed for a bank theft he knew nothing about and nearly imprisoned.
MP for Neath from 1991-2015 and a Privy Councillor, he served in the UK Labour Government for 12 years, seven of these in the Cabinet.
He negotiated the 2007 settlement to end the conflict in Northern Ireland and was a Foreign Minister with successive responsibilities for Africa, the Middle East and Europe. He has chaired the United Nations Security Council and negotiated international treaties. He was also Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Secretary of State for Wales, Leader of the House of Commons and Energy Minister.
Author of 28 books, his latest is Liberation and Corruption: why freedom movements fail. His concise readable biography Mandela His Essential Life was published in 2018, his memoirs Outside In in 2012, and his anti-corruption thrillers The Rhino Conspiracy (2020) and its sequels The Elephant Conspiracy (2022) and The Lion Conspiracy (2024); also Fallout (2025). His South African memoir, A Pretoria Boy was published in 2021.
Married with two sons and seven grandchildren, he has degrees from Queen Mary University London and Sussex University. He has lived in South Wales for well over 30 years.