Nat Bregman
21 July, 2011 — On behalf of our Founder, Chairperson, Board of Trustees and staff, we extend our deep condolences to the family and friends of Nat Bregman who passed away in hospital, last night at the age of 88.
Mr Bregman shared an office with Mr Mandela for three years in the early 1940s at Johannesburg attorneys Sidelksy, Witkin and Eidelman, where they did their articles together.
In a recent interview with the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory, Mr Bregman recalled how at the time he was a member of the Communist Party and invited Mr Mandela to attend “mixed parties” with him, something which “impressed” Mr Mandela.
In his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, Mr Mandela said: “Nat was bright, pleasant, and thoughtful. He seemed entirely colour-blind and became my first white friend”.
In an interview in the early 1990s Mr Mandela said: “Now Nat Bregman was also a very helpful fellow because one day he brought a packet of sandwiches ..... takes out a sandwich — and he says, ‘Nelson, hold the other side’; and he says, ‘break’, so I broke; and he says, ‘eat’, so he also started eating, and he says now that indicates what’s the philosophy of the Communist Party — we share everything that we have.”
Mr Bregman maintained a friendship with Mr Mandela.
Mr Bregman leaves his wife Rosa, six children, 16 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. He will be buried at West Park Cemetery, in Johannesburg on Sunday 24th July at 11.00 am.