Celebrated Afrikaans writer, Elsa Joubert, who passed away at the weekend from COVID 19-related complications at the age of 97 in Cape Town, has been hailed for bringing the struggles of those suffering under colonialism and apartheid to her Afrikaans readers.
Joubert wrote numerous novels and is best known for her 1979 novel, ‘The Long Journey of Poppie Nongena’. It is an epic tale of the adversity of a black woman under apartheid laws.
The book was translated into 13 languages and was made into an film of the same name directed by Christian Olwagen, with Clementine Mosimane as the lead actress.
Joubert is also the former womens’ editor of the Afrikaans magazine, Huisgenoot. She received numerous awards, including two of the coveted Hertzog prizes. Fellow writer and journalist, Amanda Botha says she loved to travel.
“Elsa Joubert was an explorer at heart and an adventurer in spirit. She travelled during her youth from Cape Town to Cairo and to African states to unravel the plight of the inhabitants during and after colonisation. She documented the hardships, the courage and the resilience of African people,” says Botha.
Dankie vir die woorde. #RIV #ElsaJoubert pic.twitter.com/JFrWkAYNiE
— Poppie Nongena (@poppiefilm) June 15, 2020
