Ramaphosa pays tribute to anti-apartheid activist and writer Breyten Breytenbach

President Cyril Ramaphosa has paid tribute to renowned anti-apartheid writer and activist Breyten Breytenbach

Breytenbach passed away peacefully in Paris at the age of 85 – with his wife Yolande by his side, the family said.

Humanist

Ramaphosa conveyed his condolences to the family and friends of Breytenbach.

“Today we mourn the passing of Breyten Breytenbach, humanist whose strident and sustained literary assault on apartheid and its enforcers and endorsers traversed bookstores, domestic bookshelves, lecture halls, art galleries and theatre stages around the world.

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“My thoughts are with his wife, Yolande, and daughter, Daphnée, in Paris which has been the home of this son of Bonnievale in the Western Cape for decades,” Ramaphosa said.

Standing up to apartheid

Ramaphosa paid tribute to Breytenbach for the bravery and perseverance with which he stood up to the persecution and prosecution by the apartheid state.

“Fearful of his influence on the minority electorate in South Africa and on world opinion, the apartheid regime imprisoned him for opposing the system and channelling through his diverse art forms and political and fraternal affiliations the militancy, tragedy and resilience of our liberation struggle.

“May his soul rest in peace,” Ramaphosa said.

Biography

Born in 1939, in Bonnievale, Western Cape, Breytenbach was a celebrated South African wordsmith – a poet, novelist, painter, and activist, whose work profoundly shaped literature and the arts both locally and abroad.

Known for his masterful literary creations such as The True Confessions of an Albino Terrorist and A Season in Paradise, he fearlessly addressed themes of exile, identity and justice.

A vocal opponent of apartheid, Breytenbach joined Okhela, a separate ideological wing of the African National Congress (ANC) in exile, and was imprisoned upon his clandestine return to South Africa in 1975.

Visionary

Despite this, his artistic and literary contributions flourished, cementing his place as one of South Africa’s most courageous and visionary figures.

He was known for his innovative approach to both painting and poetry, using colour and words to evoke the complex emotions of his homeland’s socio-political landscape.

Breytenbach’s work shaped literature and the arts both locally and abroad.

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