A HUMAN rights lawyer who defended Nelson Mandela feels honoured at being granted the Freedom of the City of London.

Lord Joel Joffe, 83, who lives in Liddington, was given the accolade with two of the late South African leader’s ANC comrades, Ahmed Kathrada and Denis Goldberg, who between them served 48 years in prison.

Also granted Freedom of the City of London was Lord Joffe’s fellow lawyer, George Bizos, who had shared defence duties during the infamous Rivonia Trial.

Held in 1963 and 1964, the trial saw 10 leaders of the African National Congress charged with 221 acts of sabotage.

Mr Mandela spent 27 years in prison, Mr Kathrada 26 and Mr Goldberg 22.

Lord Joffe said: “It was a great honour to be awarded the Freedom of the City of London. I wasn’t sure that I deserved it, but I was absolutely delighted.”

The freedom of the city was bestowed on the four in a ceremony at the Guildhall.

An ANC comrade of Mr Kathrada and Mr Goldberg, Andrew Mlangeni, had also been due to be honoured, but was prevented from attending by ill health. It is hoped that he will receive the award when he is well enough to travel to London.

The formal ceremony was attended by Nelson Mandela’s daughter and granddaughter, and the son of Mr Mlangeni.

Mr Goldberg said of South Africa: “In only 21 years we have come a tremendously long way in undoing what the Apartheid government did.

“But the racial segregation was burnt into the minds of every South African. There is still a long way to go.”

Lord Joffe agreed, but added: “Nelson Mandela and his changes set the foundations for a democratic South Africa.

“A lot of good has happened since the ANC took power in 1992.

“As a result, everybody is equal, everybody has the vote, everybody has free education and health services are free.

“These are the very positive things that have happened in South Africa, but there’s a way to go.”

Examples of improvements Lord Joffe would like to see include the resolution of civil service reforms to help the government deliver policies effectively. After the ANC trial at Rivonia, Lord Joffe moved to the UK, helped to set up insurance firm Hambro Life and became heavily involved in charity work. He was ennobled in 2000.

When Mr Mandela died in 2013, Lord Joffe recalled the Rivonia Trial in an interview with the Swindon Advertiser.

“That case was perhaps my most important and most invaluable I have ever done,” he said.

“Mandela admitted all the charges against him and was not at all frightened.

“He saw the trial, which was intended by the government to totally discredit Nelson Mandela and his co-accused as troublemakers, as an opportunity for he and his colleagues to put the government on trial, both in the court in Pretoria but also, equally, in the court of world opinion.

“What stayed with me was a better understanding that all people are equal irrespective of colour, and that there was no case better striving for than human rights.”