Breytenbach was genius 'who captured people's emotions'
The City of Cape Town has described late anti-apartheid activist, writer and poet Breyten Breytenbach as a genius who captured people's emotions.
Breytenbach died on Sunday at the age of 85.
In 2023, the City of Cape Town conferred Civic Honours on Breytenbach.
He was also awarded numerous literary awards, including the Alan Paton Award, the CNA Prize and the Hertzog Prize for Poetry.
Breytenbach published more than 50 books during his lifetime, including ‘The True Confession of an Albino Terrorist’.
“The city awarded the Civic Honours to Breytenbach for his remarkable service to Cape Town and society, his vast contribution to South African poetry and literature, and his profound personal sacrifice in opposition to apartheid,” said Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis
“He was a genius creator of transcendent beauty who captured our emotions, forced us to think, and demonstrated during the dark days of our country’s past that the pen is far mightier than the sword."
Breytenbach left South Africa for France in 1960 due to his outspoken political defiance of the National Party.
As the apartheid government considered his marriage to Vietnamese Yolande Ngo Thi Hoang Lien a criminal offence, Breytenbach could not return to South Africa.
When he did travel home on a false passport in 1975, he was arrested, charged with high treason, and sentenced to nine years in prison.
He served seven years, the first two in solitary confinement.
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