Renowned writer, poet and activist James Matthews, who President Cyril Ramaphosa said had inspired South Africans with the “rage and eloquence” of his work, has died at 95.
His son, Jimi Matthews, said he died in his sleep yesterday. “He had been frail over the last two weeks,” he said.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a statement he was “deeply saddened” by Matthews’s death.
“James Matthews’s voice will ring in our consciousness and we will remain captivated and inspired by the rage and elegance with which he articulated the stark struggles of the oppressed,” Ramaphosa said.
“We will be comforted by the many works he has left for us to revisit and by our memories of his appearances at rallies, ghoembas, the front lines of street protest and intimate circles of kindred creatives where, beret askew on his head, he would feed the souls and fighting spirit of those around him.”
A raconteur of note, James Matthews’s revolutionary voice will be sorely missed
— Siphiwo Mahala, playwright
He said the Matthews family’s loss was shared by communities across South Africa and by his associates around the world.
Matthews received the National Order of Ikamanga in 2004 for his achievements in literature, his contributions to journalism and his “inspirational commitment to the struggle for a nonracial South Africa”.
Born in District Six in 1929, he quickly displayed his love of writing and some of his first pieces were published when he was just 17. He started working as a journalist and wrote for a variety of publications such as the Golden City Post, the Cape Times and Drum magazine.
He published his first poetry anthology in 1972, which was later banned by the government, and he was detained at the then Victor Verster prison in 1976. Through his writing, he protested against the apartheid regime and raised consciousness around oppression in South Africa. He went on to own an art gallery in Cape Town and established his own publishing company.
Matthews used his writing talent to raise awareness of oppression in South Africa during apartheid, and was dedicated to giving other artists a platform to express their views. He gave life to many voices that had been silenced in previous years.
Playwright Siphiwo Mahala said Matthews’s death was a “profound loss to the South African literary landscape”.
“He transcended several generations and never left for exile. He was a contributor to Drum magazine at the height of what Lewis Nkosi termed ‘the fabulous decade’ (1950s). He continued writing despite harassment, persecution and banishment by apartheid security police.
“In the 1970s, he was the first black writer to establish a publishing house, aptly named BLAC. The company was instantly banned by the apartheid government. He had a perennial presence in the South African literary landscape for seven decades,” Mahala said.
“I had the privilege of working with him, travelling with him to Cuba in 2007 ... He called himself a dissident poet and refused to be confined to ideologies. A raconteur of note, James Matthews’s revolutionary voice will be sorely missed.”
Writer and publisher Mothobi Mutloatse, who knew Matthews well, described him as a “people’s person” who never stopped writing.
“Regardless of the age difference, he treated everyone as an equal, young, old, man or woman. He was so ordinary it was incredible.”
Mutloatse said Matthews had been regarded as a “grand old man of black literature”.
“He knew that his strength came from the people. When he went to Cuba for the first time and locals mistook him for a local Cuban, he found it very interesting to embraced in that manner by the Cuban folks.
“James Matthews never thought of retiring from the art because it was his calling, a spiritual calling he never compromised on,” he said.
Western Cape MEC for cultural affairs & sport Ricardo Mackenzie said: “It is always sad when we lose someone who had such a profound impact on the arts in our country. James Matthews was someone who fought for freedom of expression for writers and other artists. He was dedicated to his community and did reading groups at local schools for many years.”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.