The City of Joburg mourns Nadine Gordimer

Mourning one of the city’s much loved and acclaimed residents, Executive Mayor, Parks Tau said, “We have lost a true literary activist. She was one of the great South African writers and one of the world’s most esteemed literary figures.”

Gordimer died on 13 July at age 90.

In a statement sent on behalf of the Gordimer family, law firm Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs said she died peacefully in her sleep at her Joburg home.

The city council extended its condolences to Gordimer’s family, friends and the entire South African literary and academic community.

Gordimer was born in Springs on the East Rand in 1923 and moved to Joburg to study at Wits University briefly.

She has lived in Joburg since 1948.

Gordimer wrote 15 novels and several volumes of short stories, non-fiction and other works.

Her work was published in 40 languages around the world.

She received an honorary doctorate in literature from Wits University in 1984, in recognition of her immense contribution to literature and the transformation of South African society.

Gordimer was awarded with a Nobel prize for literature in 1991.

Last year, the city council honoured Gordimer with a Siyabakhumbula Award in acknowledgement of her body of work and her role in the literary world.

The city council acknowledged Gordimer for “putting the country, and the city in particular, on the map”.