President Jacob Zuma has sent condolences the family and friends of well known South African poet and writer, Adam Small, following his death on Saturday.
“We wish to convey our deepest condolences to the Small family, friends and relatives. We have lost a legendary writer and valuable thought leader. May his soul rest in eternal peace,” said Zuma on Sunday.The 79-year-old writer died early on Saturday.
On Saturday, Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille said Small had used his craft to highlight the oppression suffered by the working class under the apartheid regime.
On Sunday, the African National Congress in the Western Cape also extended their condolences to the family and “all those he had touched”.
“Adam Small was a tireless worker for a new and just South Africa, the impact of which was felt across the country. Many Africans drew inspiration from his work and his courageous mission,” the party said in a statement.
The ANC referred to the professor as a towering presence who provided guidance, inspiration and helped many in the Western Cape.
Small was born in the small Western Cape Town of Wellington on December 21 1936. His family later moved to Goree outside Robertson where his father was a teacher.
He studied for a degree in languages and philosophy at the University of Cape Town and completed an MA Cum Laude on the philosophy of Nicolai Hartmann and Friedrich Nietzsche.
He also studied at the University of London and the University of Oxford and lectured philosophy at the University of Fort Hare. He was one of the founders of the University of the Western Cape (UWC).
In the early 1970s he joined the Black Consciousness Movement and was pressured to leave UWC but eventually returned in 1984.
