The Nelson Mandela Foundation extended condolences on Thursday to the kin of attorney Nat Bregman whom the former president once described as his first “white friend”.
Bregman died on Wednesday night in hospital at the age of 88, the foundation said in a statement.
The two shared an office in Johannesburg for three years in the 1940s at the offices of attorneys Sidelksy, Witkin and Eidelman, where they did their articles together.
The foundation said that in a recent interview with the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory, Bregman recalled how at the time he was a member of the Communist Party of South Africa and invited Mandela to attend “mixed parties” with him, something which “impressed” Mandela.
In his autobiography “Long Walk to Freedom” Mandela described Bregman as “bright, pleasant, and thoughtful”.
“He seemed entirely colour-blind and became my first white friend.”
The foundation also recalled a Mandela anecdote on how Bregman used a sandwich to demonstrate communism.
Bregman had taken out a sandwich, and instructed Mandela to hold the other side and break and then eat.
“...and he says now that indicates what's the philosophy of the Communist Party Ä we share everything that we have.”
Bregman and Mandela remained friends.
Bregman leaves his wife Rosa, six children, 16 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
He will be buried at West Park Cemetery in Johannesburg at 11am on Sunday July 24. -
Sapa