Breyten: South African icon who fought apartheid with pen

By Staff Reporter

Tributes pour in for South African writer and poet Breyten Breytenbach, who was a staunch opponent of apartheid, following his death in Paris at the age of 85.

According to a family statement on Sunday, the literary icon passed away “with his wife Yolande by his side.”

Breytenbach was a celebrated wordsmith, a leading voice in literature in Afrikaans, and a fierce critic of apartheid—a policy that is founded on the idea of separating people based on racial or ethnic criteria, imposed against South Africa's Black majority by a white-minority government between 1948 and 1990.

"Our sadness affords us another opportunity to pay tribute to Breyten Breytenbach for the bravery and perseverance with which he stood up to his persecution and prosecution by the apartheid state,” South African President Ramaphosa said on Monday in a tribute posted on X.

Towering figure

The Mayor of Cape Town Geordin Hill-Lewis, described Breytenbach a “poetic giant.”

“Breytenbach was a towering figure in South African and global literature, known for his fearless exploration of exile, identity, and justice through his acclaimed works,” wrote Ramaphosa’s ANC party in their tribute on social media.

Breytenbach moved to Paris, but on a trip to South Africa in 1975, he was arrested on allegations of treason and served seven years in prison.

Upon his release, he based himself in Paris, where he continued his anti-apartheid activism.

Notable works

Breytenbach is best known for “Confessions of an Albino Terrorist,” his account of his imprisonment and the events leading to it.

Breytenbach received many awards, the most prominent ones being the Van der Hoogt Prize for Dutch Literature in 1982, which was followed by the Rapport Literature Prize in 1986.

He also received the Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, and the Alan Paton Award for Literature, among others.

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