George Bizos: Human Rights icon extraordinaire | National Museum Publications

The world mourns the passing of well-known human rights lawyer George Bizos on 9 September 2020 in Johannesburg. George Bizos was a well respected Greek-South African human rights lawyer who campaigned against apartheid in South Africa and played an important role in the liberation struggle.

George Bizos was born on 14 November 1927 in the small village of Vasilitsi, south of Koroni, Greece. In 1941, as a thirteen year old boy, he and his father arrived in South Africa as World War II refugees. They landed in Durban, but later moved to Johannesburg where they were welcomed by the local Greek community. In 1950 George completed his law degree at the University of Witwatersrand and four years later he was admitted to the Johannesburg Bar. During his legal career, Bizos represented several anti-Apartheid activists in high profile political trials. He was part of the team who defended Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki and the other accused in both the 1956 Treason and 1963 Rivonia Trials. He also defended Mosiuoa Patrick “Terror” Lekota and Popo Molefe at the Delmas Treason Trial (1985-1989), as well as Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. He served as an advocate in Johannesburg until 1990, whereafter he joined the Legal Resources Centre, a South African Human rights group in Johannesburg as Senior Council.

At the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings Bizos represented some of the families of people killed during the South African liberation struggle. He opposed amnesty applications on behalf of, among other, the families of Steve Biko, Chris Hani and Joe Slovo. Bizos was appointed by President Mandela to the Judicial Services Commission in 1994. The commission was responsible for recommending candidates for appointment as judges, as well as proposing post-apartheid reforms to the judicial system. Bizos was the leader of the team for the South African Government to argue that the death penalty was unconstitutional, and Counsel for the National Assembly in the Certification of the Constitution by the Constitutional Court. Bizos dedicated his whole working life to fight for basic human rights. When the new democratic dispensation began in 1994 he continued his campaign to ensure that South Africans enjoyed those rights enshrined by the democratic constitution. He was also a close comrade and confidant to President Nelson Mandela.

Bizos, as Senior Council of the Legal Resources Centre, represented some of the mine workers’ families at the Marikana Commission of Inquiry into the police killing of 34 mine workers on 16 August 2012. Bizos furthermore was opposed to the removal of all pre-1994 statues. Speaking at a public lecture at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Howard College in 2015, he said that when removing the statues “merit is acceptable, but to just say remove all the statues is unfair. Defacing the statues is also not in accordance with our Constitution”.

In 2004 Bizos represented Morgan Tsvangirai, president of the main opposition party (Movement for Democratic Change) in Zimbabwe, who was charged with high treason by the Zimbabwean government.

Bizos wrote 3 books during his lifetime, namely:

No one to Blame?: In Pursuit of Justice in South Africa, 1998
Odyssey to Freedom, 2011
65 Years of Friendship, 2017 (About his frienship with Madiba)

Bizos received numerous awards during his legal career. To name just a few:

The Order for Meritorious Service Class II medal from then President Mandela, 1999
The International Trial Lawyer Prize of the Year by the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, 2001
The International Bar Association’s (IBA) prestigious Bernard Simons Memorial Award in Auckland, Australia, 2004.

Bizos was married to Arethe Daflos, known as “Rita”. He is survived by three sons and seven grandchildren. Prof. Thuli Modensala said about Bizos on Twitter: “He fought a good fight in pursuit of a Just South Africa that belongs to all who live in it.”

Photos and photo credits

George Bizos in 2009. Photo: Gisèle Wulfsohn,

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