South African writer and poet Breyten Breytenbach has passed away at the age of 85.
He was a staunch opponent of the former white-minority government’s apartheid policy of racial oppression.
He was a renowned writer and a prominent voice in Afrikaans literature, a language evolved from Dutch by white settlers in South Africa.
He was also a staunch critic of apartheid, the oppressive system enforced against the country’s Black majority from 1948 to 1990.
He was convicted of treason and spent seven years in prison.
Mr. Breytenbach is best known for his book “Confessions of an Albino Terrorist,” in which he describes his imprisonment and the events leading up to it.
Breyten Breytenbach has been awarded the Hertzog Prize, one of the most prestigious awards for Afrikaans literature, several times for his contributions to poetry, drama, and prose.
