By Levy Masiteng
The nation is in mourning following the death of renowned playwright, novelist and actor Athol Fugard. He passed away at his home in Stellenbosch on Sunday, at the age of 92.
Fugard was a towering figure in South African literature and theatre, celebrated for his powerful and more than 30 plays that brought attention to the injustices inherent in the apartheid system.
President Cyril Ramaphosa described Fugard as an extraordinary storyteller in extraordinary times, and the moral conscience of a generation.
“As a country, we are grateful that we were able to honour the legendary Athol Fugard during his lifetime with the National Order of Ikhamanga in Silver,” Ramaphosa said in a statement on Monday.
“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 for time to come”.
Western Cape cultural affairs and sport MEC Ricardo Mackenzie described Fugard as one of South Africa’s greatest playwrights.
“It is a very sad day for South Africa. Athol Fugard was one of our country’s greatest playwrights, who managed to capture everyday stories of people in our country in every play. He had a unique way of turning the pain of the past into a story of hope for the future. His contribution to the arts is immeasurable”.
Economic Freedom Fighters spokesperson Sinawo Thambo noted that Fugard’s birth in 1932 in Middelburg in the Eastern Cape exposed him first-hand to the harsh realities of apartheid South Africa from a young age.
Thambo said his career as a playwright was defined by his commitment to exposing the brutal realities of apartheid and giving a voice to those silenced by a racist and oppressive system.
Some of Fugard’s most searing works include ‘The Blood Knot’, ‘Master Harold and the Boys’, and ‘Sizwe Bansi is Dead’. They earned him international recognition.
Because Fugard’s best-known plays centre on the suffering caused by the apartheid policies of South Africa’s white-minority government, some among Fugard’s audience abroad were surprised to find he was white himself.
In 1989 he was named the greatest active playwright in the English-speaking world by Time magazine.
One of Fugard’s most notable achievements is his acclaimed 1980 novel ‘Tsotsi’, which was later transformed into a film that won an Academy Award in 2006.
His final stage performance was in ‘The Shadow of the Hummingbird’ (2014) at The Market Theatre in Johannesburg.
Meanwhile, Thambo called on the government to open The Fugard Theatre after its closure to bestow dignity on Fugard’s name and his legacy.
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