Cape Town mourns the passing of Civic Honour awardee, Breyten Breytenbach
24 November 2024
Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has conveyed the City’s condolences on the passing of acclaimed poet, painter, former political prisoner and Civic Honour awardee, Breyten Breytenbach.
‘Almost exactly a year ago, our City awarded Civic Honours to Breyten 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.
‘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. May his soul rest in peace.
‘In this moment, our city remembers the immortal words of a poem Mr Breytenbach wrote for recital at the civic honours ceremony last December: Die witwolk stort vir die soveelste keer haar hart weldadig uit oor Tafelberg … vergangklikheid is ‘n geboortereg, tereg! Dis juis dáárom dat ons om die droom bly veg wat hier iets verstaan het van saam mekaar-andersmaak,’ said Mayor Hill-Lewis.
The City of Cape Town conferred Civic Honours on Breyten Breytenbach on 6 December 2023. He has also been awarded numerous literary accolades, including the Alan Paton Award, the CNA Prize and the Hertzog Prize for Poetry.
Breytenbach was a founding member of the Sestigers, a dissident Afrikaans literary movement strongly opposing the apartheid regime.
Born in Bonnievale in the Western Cape in 1939, Breytenbach matriculated from Huguenot High School in Wellington and went on to study fine arts at the University of Cape Town. He 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.
In 1964, he debuted with the poetry book Die Ysterkoei Moet Sweet, followed that same year by a volume of short stories, Katastrofes. Since then, he published almost 30 Afrikaans books of poetry and over 20 English works of prose.
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Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office
