/ 4 March 2007

Lawyer agrees to repay Mandela Trust

Nelson Mandela’s former lawyer Ismail Ayob said that he agreed to repay money to the Nelson Mandela Trust because he does not have the money for a court battle, weekend newspapers reported.

The Saturday Star quoted him as saying: ”I don’t have a war chest of R20-million of other people’s money to fight an action forever. I have to raise every cent myself. I settled because I don’t have the ability to sustain a long trial with senior counsel on both sides.”

He also reportedly told 702 radio talk show host John Robbie that Mandela’s lawyer George Bizos engaged in a whispering campaign against him.

”He’s called me a fraudster, he’s called me a criminal, he’s sent people around saying I must be socially ostracised,” he was quoted as saying. – Sapa