The celebrated Afrikaans author André Brink — due to be bestowed a National Order on Wednesday — has castigated the government over its response to crime.
Beeld newspaper reported that he had labelled Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula a ”monster” who ”betrayed the legacy of [former president] Nelson Mandela”.
In an article in the French daily Le Monde, Brink wrote about the ”tragic end” of democracy in South Africa because of the government’s silence over crime.
Brink is among a number of prominent citizens who are to be bestowed National Orders by President Thabo Mbeki at a ceremony in the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
The author is to be honoured for his contribution to literature and the part he played in the ”battle for justice and democracy”.
He wrote in the French newspaper he had in the past 12 years told those who had doubts over South Africa that the negatives of the transition period were of a temporary nature.
”I can no longer say that today,” he wrote. – Sapa