IT WAS a rare moment of touching history when judges, lawyers, journalists and former Namibian exiles spontaneously rose to give a standing ovation to an icon of South Africa's political transformation, Constitutional Court Justice Albie Sachs, in Windhoek on Friday during the launch of a book about legal perspectives on human rights in Africa.

His brief overview of South Africa's political change up to 1994, of which he was part, his own role in mapping that country's new constitution and admitting that mistakes were made in the transformation process, his honesty about it and the humbleness of his own role caused the standing ovation, which happens rather seldom in this country.

The short sleeve of his suit covers what remains of Albie Sachs's right arm, which was blown off in a bomb blast on April 7 1988 in Maputo, Mozambique - an assassination attempt by the South African apartheid regime.

Although a blue vein above one eye reveals that it was blinded in the bombing, this 74-year-old man does not let that traumatic experience two decades ago prevent him from living a full life, full of gratefulness to have survived, to play a useful role in his profession and in society, to experience the new South Africa he helped shape.

It takes some getting used to seeing him like that, scarred from the blast and summarised by the words "broken, but unbroken", as the New York Times wrote.

In an exclusive interview with The Namibian on Friday afternoon, Sachs comes across as a person who has forgiven his adversaries - he even met the officer who planted the bomb and could shake hands with him.

Namibia's independence process was a good example for the transformation of South Africa, Sachs told The Namibian. "When I came here in 1989 I noticed it was a whole new society."

Asked if both countries, with their history so closely interlinked, were not in a process of "sobering up" 15 and 19 years after transformation, Sachs responded that South Africa today had a very open society.

"Everybody can express him or herself, regardless if it is via freedom of speech, sending letters to editors of print media, giving a speech in Parliament (as MP), or organising peaceful protest marches - there are no taboos in today's society in South Africa; people are very vocal, the past hidden silence is broken and that is very positive," he said.

"We have many good stories and many bad stories. It is easy to get into the frame of mind to say all is good or all is bad - it is a mixture of both. We had to reinvent ourselves and we did it, that shows the power of imagination and people trusting people, holding dialogue."

Asked if a "sobering-up process" nearly 20 years after Independence for Namibia and 15 years after the political change in South Africa was taking place, Sachs said: "I only speak for South Africa where people exaggerated the euphoria of a democracy, while others were terrified of the change. Some people were thrown off trains, there were unrests in KwaZulu-Natal and during the 1994 election campaign 13 people were killed in bomb blasts."

Namibia was a role model for South Africa's transformation, which was manifested in the peaceful and first-ever democratic elections in 1994, says Sachs. "Namibia in 1989 did a non-racial approach to its Constitution and that supreme law was drafted by a democratically elected body.

"Namibia's Constitution was based on the fundamental principles [of human rights]. We in South Africa took these exemplary things and we applied them for our transformation."

The fact that Namibia's Independence was accomplished "without a racial bloodbath" was another valuable lesson: "Former enemies sat around a table and slowly started to trust each other although not necessarily agreeing with each other - Namibia was an example of an example, we drew lots of lessons from the Namibian process".

He himself was part of a "brilliantly good story - the Constitutional Court, which is a product of the dreams and longings of generations [of South Africans]," adds Sachs, who twice had to spend many days in solitary confinement.

He wrote in his book 'The soft Vengeance of a Freedom Fighter' about his 'post-bomb situation': "I am not a victim seeking revenge or compensation or sympathy, but someone who has voluntarily engaged himself in a freedom struggle, aware that risks at some stage were involved, delighted that I have survived and determined to re-establish an active and happy relationship with the world."

His favourite reflection is the establishment in 1994 of South Africa's Constitutional Court, of which he became a Judge but from which he retires later this year.

"The making of the Constitutional Court was a continuation of my whole life experience. The CC is a major institution and deeply planted in our country. It has developed a style of work and a set of principles not picked up in any part of the world. Our lawyers used to quote from the House of Lords in Britain, now the House of Lords quotes from our CC," he told The Namibian.

Most cases come to the CC in the form of appeals. "We have a strong NGO and civil society sector and these organisations take on test cases to be challenged. There is the Legal Resources Centre, the Women Legal Resources Centre, Lawyers for Human Rights.

"They bring cases on behalf of those people and groups who are otherwise marginalised. We often get petitions from prisons, which we take very seriously. In several cases we ask for a lawyer to be appointed to take up such a case, but lack of resources is a barrier," he states. "Another positive matter about the CC is that cases can be brought before it in the public interest."

Despite all the tribulations and sacrifices, change was accomplished, adds Sachs. "We united the South African defence force and the freedom fighters into one body, we transformed the public administration and at every step there was fear."

Pausing for a moment, Sachs closed his eyes and then turned philosophical: "Expectations create euphoria and then one must take measure and see how far things retrogressed. A paradox of the freedom struggle is the strife to create a 'normal society' and by that I mean not [having] to kill for one's beliefs and that is a big gain. Now [after the initial euphoria] human problems emerge, people struggle over all sorts of things but that is part of democracy and of freedom.

"The big question is to draw on so much that is positive in South Africa to carry on with the process - freedom of speech and of protest is there, culture like theatre, dance and literature are very vibrant. I see a young, very alert and confident generation. Maybe the most striking in South Africa after the political change is to see the young African women claiming their place through their energy and their brightness - that is very noticeable!"