Dr Donato Mattera is a distinguished author, poet, journalist and storyteller who has made an immense contribution to the country, particularly in the Eldorado Park, Westbury, Bosmont, Ennerdale communities.
His substantial contributions to literature and community development in South Africa earned him an Honorary Doctor of Literature from Witwatersrand University.
Now the Don Mattera Legacy Foundation is set to open in February, to ensure that Don’s legacy remains for generations to come and to also build a sustainable legacy of his contribution to a free democratic South Africa.
Dr Mattera says his Foundation will do a lot in teaching people about compassion, especially towards children. “The abuse of children in our country is scary, these days our children are not safe.”
He says South Africans have lost this important thing called compassion, “what have we become,” he asks.
“It doesn’t matter what religion a person believes in, the basic principle of compassion remains. Before I die I want to spread the message of compassion,’ says Mattera.
Speaking also on Morning Live his son and Don Mattera Legacy Foundation board member Teddy Mattera says his father has stood the test of time and now features prominently in our democracy.
He says despite police raids, disturbances and interference during the apartheid regime, his father persevered and never gave up his beliefs.
Teddy Mattera says the Foundation will make sure that his legacy remains for years to come.
‘Political activist’
It was during the campaign against the removals of Black, Coloured, and Indians from Sophiatown, that Mattera became more aware of the political dimensions of his life. He then joined the African National Congress Youth League and became a political activist.
In the early 1970s he, like many others, became involved in the politics of ‘Black Consciousness’; he helped to form the Union of Black Journalists, as well as the Congress of South African writers.
As a result of his political activities, the South African government from 1973 to 1982 banned him. Three of these years were spent under house arrest. -Additional reporting by SAHO.
