Liberation hero bows out at 85

SA writer and poet Breyten Breytenbach died yesterday in Paris. News24 reports that Breytenbach's work touched on themes of exile, identity and justice, and he used his writings to criticise apartheid. ‘A vocal opponent of apartheid, Breytenbach joined Okhela, a separate ideological wing of the ANC in exile, and was imprisoned upon his clandestine return to SA in 1975. Despite this, his artistic and literary contributions flourished, cementing his place as one of SA’s most courageous and visionary figures,’ a family statement said. Hs work The True Confessions of an Albino Terrorist describes aspects of his imprisonment. Breytenbach was retried in June 1977 on new and fanciful charges that, among other things, he had planned a submarine attack by the Soviet Navy on Robben Island. He was born on 16 September 1939, in Bonnievale in the Western Cape, and was one of five siblings.