“A militant against apartheid, he fought for a better world until the end,” his family said in a statement, describing him as “an immense artist.”
Breytenbach’s sharp intellect and commitment to justice earned him widespread admiration. The British satirical show Spitting Image once called him “the only nice South African” in a song during apartheid’s darkest days. Former French education minister Jack Lang also paid tribute on X, writing: “A rebel with a tender heart, he was part of all the struggles for human rights.”
