President Cyril Ramaphosa has paid tribute to renowned playwright Athol Fugard, lauding the late thespian as “an extraordinary storyteller in extraordinary times, and the moral conscience of a generation”.
Fugard, 92, died at his Stellenbosch home on Sunday after a long illness.
Ramaphosa said in a statement that Fugard’s legacy would continue to live on through his influential work, as a voice who roused the consciences of international audiences in support of the anti-apartheid struggle.
“Beyond the impressive body of work that he has left behind, Athol Fugard will be remembered for being an outlier among the millions of white South Africans who blithely turned a blind eye to the injustices being perpetrated in their name,” Ramaphosa said.
“As a country, we are grateful that we were able to honour the legendary Fugard during his lifetime with the National Order of Ikhamanga in Silver.
“The Fugard Theatre in District Six in Cape Town stands as a fitting tribute to a man whose life and works have left an indelible footprint and that will continue to inspire generations of creative professionals.”
The actor and director was born in Middelburg in the Eastern Cape and relocated with his family to Gqeberha in 1935. .
In the late 1950s, he worked as a clerk in the Native Commissioner’s Court in Johannesburg, which would significantly impact his world view and shape his political consciousness.
In 1985, the father of three was celebrated by Time magazine as the greatest active playwright in the English speaking world and was also the recipient of a Tony Award for lifetime achievement.
Among some of his celebrated plays were No Good Friday, The Blood Knot, Master Harold and the Boys, Sizwe Bansi is Dead, and The Island.
The Island, co-written by Gqeberha theatre legends Winston Ntshona and John Kani, laid stark the cruelty and dehumanisation of apartheid.
His 1980 novel, Tsotsi, adapted as a film by director Gavin Hood, won an Academy Award in 2005.
The Herald
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