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It's not only South Africans who are in awe of Albie Sachs - the struggle hero tells us how a meeting with Amal and George Clooney in New York has led to the power couple naming a justice award in his honour

- JANE VORSTER

IT'S a beautiful day in Cape Town but Albie Sachs hardly seems to notice the crash of the waves or the cry of the gulls as he sits in the lounge of his beach bungalow.

In his mind he's thousands of kilometres away, in New York.

He's telling us about the surprising night in 2018 when he was having coffee with US Supreme Court judge Sonia Sotomayor at her apartment and, next thing, in walked Amal and George Clooney.

When Sonia had extended the invitation to the anti-apartheid hero and his wife, Vanessa September, she said they'd be joined by one of her former law clerks and her husband who were keen to meet him.

Albie thought nothing of it. After all, pivotal moments of his life have become a thing of legend. He survived a car bomb in 1988 set by SA security agents, which robbed him of his right arm and the sight in his left eye. He then went on to become one of the chief architects of the democratic constitution before serving as one of the first judges in the Constitutional Court.

Strangers often want to meet him, but on this occasion Albie almost fell off his chair when the Clooneys walked in.

For most people it would be George, the Hollywood superstar, who would be the source of fascination - but it was Amal, a respected human rights lawyer, whom Albie found most intriguing.

"Amal is very striking in appearance, she has a strong personality and is a vivid talker, Albie (87) recalls as he chats to us at his Clifton home. "George joined in a lot. It was just baie gesellig (very convivial) - nice people, easy conversation."