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Achmat Dangor has passed away at the age of 71.
- Author and activist Achmat Dangor has died.
- Dangor had published four novels and received several accolades for his work.
- He was also instrumental in the movement against Bantu education and was banned for his political writing.
Author and activist Achmat Dangor died at the age of 71.
Dangor, who had published four novels, was born and lived in Johannesburg and was the brother of the ANC’s Deputy Secretary General, Jessie Duarte.
The cause of death has yet to be revealed.
In a statement issued by the ANC, the party said that Dangor became involved in the fighting at a young age.
During the 1970s, he formed Black Thoughts with other writers in opposition to and as an alternative to the slavery of the Bantu educational system. The group promoted books and writings by authors from Africa and other developing countries, and did readings in municipalities and schools. “the statement read.
Dangor was banned for his political activism and writing.
The party said Dangor was a leading light in the development sector and in a variety of non-governmental organizations, including the Kagiso Trust, the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund and Foundation, and the Independent Development Trust (IDT), as well as in development international. sector.
He also taught creative writing and South African literature at the State University of New York.
Dangor was one of the founding members of the Congress of South African Writers (Cosaw) and remained active in the cultural and development sectors even after his retirement.
Active
His friend Omar Badsha described Dangor as “an integral part of the emergence of a new generation of writers”, very active in the trade union and black consciousness movements.
Badsha said:
He was preoccupied with the issue of identity, which he wove into beautiful stories. He was very quiet, but he spoke and when he did it was always in a very gentle way. He was a gentleman.
“He was a dynamic force in the resurgence of our political landscape.”
Dangor published four novels: Waiting for leila (nineteen eighty one), The Z Town trilogy (1990), Kafka’s curse (1997) and Bitter fruit (2001) – as well as a collection of short stories, Strange pilgrimages (2013).
Received the Herman Charles Bosman Award for Kafka’s curse, and Bitter fruit was shortlisted for the 2004 Man Booker Award as well as the 2003 International Dublin Impac Award.
Dangor also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the South African Literary Awards (SALA).
“In Achmat Dangor, the country has lost an important voice, but we can take comfort that its light will continue to shine through its books and other writings,” the party said.
