[Conversation Issue] Jimi Solanke: a prodigal as folk hero—Sanya Osha salutes an inimitable artist
Sanya Osha pays tribute to the late Jimi Solanke, and chats to Oluwatoyin Sutton about her book Jimi Solanke: The…
Tag: Obituaries
Don Mattera, 1935—2022, RIP
Renowned poet, author and anti-apartheid activist Don Mattera has died at the age of eighty-seven. Mattera’s family confirmed that he…
Lindiwe Mabuza, 1938—2021, RIP
‘Poetry is part of the Struggle. You use the armed Struggle; you use political methods … You recite a poem….
Tony Morphet, 1940—2021, RIP
Tony Morphet, who died in Cape Town on 2 May, aged eighty-one, led a professional life—as teacher, university lecturer and…
Ronnie Govender, 1934—2021, RIP
Renowned activist, writer, playwright and director Ronnie Govender has died, aged eighty-six. He passed away in Cape Town on 29…
Phumlani Pikoli, 1988—2021, RIP
Multidisciplinary artist and award-winning author Phumlani Pikoli has died, aged thirty-three. According to a family statement, Pikoli was found dead…
Chris Mann, 1948—2021, RIP
The noted South African poet, playwright, academic and performer Chris Mann has died, it has been reported. According to a…
Gus Ferguson, 1940—2020, RIP
The publisher, poet, cartoonist and humourist Gus Ferguson has died in Cape Town. Born in 1940 in Scotland, Ferguson moved…
Stephen Gray, 1941—2020, RIP
Prominent writer, academic and critic Stephen Gray has died. Gray passed away in Johannesburg on Thursday, 22 October, at the…
Angifi Dladla, 1950—2020, RIP
The poet Angifi Proctor Dladla has died, at the age of sixty-nine. The news was confirmed by Dladla’s family on…
Myesha Jenkins, 1948—2020, RIP
The pioneering poet and activist Myesha Jenkins died in Johannesburg on Saturday, 5 September, 2020. Jenkins moved to South Africa…
Achmat Dangor, 1948—2020, RIP
The poet, novelist and activist—and founding patron of The JRB—Achmat Dangor, died in Johannesburg earlier today. One of the founding…
Elsa Joubert, 1922—2020, RIP
Acclaimed author Elsa Joubert has died at the age of ninety-seven. Joubert’s son, Nico Steytler, has confirmed that his mother…
Credo Mutwa, 1921—2020, RIP
Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa, renowned traditional healer, author, artist and philosopher, has died at the age of ninety-eight. Mutwa died at…
Harry Garuba, 1958—2020, RIP
Professor Harry Garuba, renowned academic, author and poet, has died, aged sixty-one. Garuba passed away on the evening of 28…
Shaun Johnson, 1959—2020, RIP
Shaun Johnson, award-winning author and renowned anti-apartheid journalist, has died, aged sixty. Johnson passed away suddenly on Monday, 24 February,…
Sandile Dikeni, 1966–2019, RIP
Poet and activist Sandile Dikeni died in Cape Town on Saturday, it has been widely reported. Dikeni was the author…
Toni Morrison, 1931—2019, RIP
Toni Morrison, celebrated novelist and Nobel Laureate, has died, aged eighty-eight. Morrison passed away at the Montefiore Medical Center in…
Harry Kalmer, 1956—2019, RIP
Celebrated novelist and playwright Harry Kalmer has died, at the age of sixty-two. Kalmer passed away on 26 July 2019,…
Moses Mtileni, 1983—2019, RIP
Writer and publisher Moses Nzama Khaizen Mtileni has died, at the age of thirty-six. Mtileni was shot and fatally wounded…
Binyavanga Wainaina, 1971–2019, RIP
Kenyan author and activist Binyavanga Wainaina has died, at the age of forty-eight. Wainaina passed away at 10 pm on…
Hugh Lewin, 1939–2019, RIP
Journalist, author and anti-apartheid activist Hugh Lewin has died, aged seventy-nine. Lewin passed away at his home in Killarney, Johannesburg…
Justin Cartwright, 1945–2018, RIP
Acclaimed South African novelist Justin Cartwright has died, aged seventy-three. Cartwright passed away on Monday, 3 December, according to The…
‘I am me; I am black; I must be proud of my blackness.’—Read an excerpt from Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s memoir, 491 Days: Prisoner Number 1323/69
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela has died in Johannesburg at the age of eighty-one. Read an excerpt from her prison journal, published in 2013,…
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, 1936–2018, RIP
Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela-Mandela, the iconic, controversial South African activist known as ‘the Mother of the Nation’ and, more simply, as…
Keorapetse ‘Bra Willie’ Kgositsile, South Africa’s National Poet Laureate, RIP
South Africa’s National Poet Laureate, Keorapetse ‘Bra Willie’ Kgositsile, has died in Johannesburg. Kgositsile passed away at Milpark Hospital in…