Bizos is an anti-apartheid hero and deserves better: iLIVE

To see George Bizos's eyes full of tears should send a signal to the children and grandchildren of comrade Nelson Mandela, that this outstanding cadre is not a "fly-by-night" comrade or a "staff rider". He accepted it when he was manoeuvred out of the council of the Judicial Services Commission but ill-treatment by Madiba's children for greed is shameful.

Eight white lawyers gave their all to free us from apartheid - Bizos, Sydney Kentridge, Bram Fischer, Vernon Berrangé, Albie Sachs, Joel Joffe, Joe Slovo and Harold Wolpe. As we speak, Bizos is representing families who lost their breadwinners at Marikana in the same way as our people died in Sharpeville, Soweto, Boipatong, Bisho and Ngoye.

To political novices and, specifically, to the grandchildren of Madiba, Bizos is just an old man who wants popularity via his association with Madiba. To us he is a genuine comrade, who helped save the Rivonia trialists from the death sentence.

We encourage Madiba's children and the entire nation to treat these lawyers - and Bizos in particular - as great contributors, like their father, in the struggle. All South Africans should be humbled by the fervent patriotism Bizos displays and his loyalty to the truth, the constitution and the rule of law.

Now, 50 years after the Liliesleaf raid and honouring Bizos and his team for saving Madiba from the gallows, we ask: "Why is stealing with impunity from the public purse not a punishable offence? Why are elders silent about Nkandlagate?"