Cape Town - Affectionately referred to as a “Cool Cat”, donning his signature beret and occasionally in leather, walking from his Athlone home to various places in Cape Town visiting friends and comrades, the writer and publisher James Matthews’ unflinching words also fittingly earned him the title of dissident poet.
On Saturday, family, friends, dignitaries and those whose lives were impacted by his presence and work all gathered to pay their final respects and tributes to the “People’s Poet” at the St George’s Cathedral during the special provincial funeral.
His remains will be cremated during a private family service.
Matthews, born in District Six, died peacefully in his sleep at the age of 95 on Saturday, September 7. He lived in Silvertown, Athlone, for many decades.
“Now we cry gratitude,” remarked his granddaughter, Thandiwe Matthews, denoting the seminal work of Matthews, from Cry Rage, co-authored by Gladys Thomas, as she paid tribute to her grandfather alongside cousin Dr Dineo Grove, who rendered a poem from the anthology, titled Freedom’s Child.
Cry Rage, published in 1972, was the first book of poetry to be banned under the apartheid regime.
Thandiwe said: “Indeed, we are flushed with the lushness of his love. Today we cry gratitude. We thank the universe for blessing us with 9.5 decades of our Freedom’s Child, James Matthews.
“To the very end, our Oupapa’s words inspired generations of young people to be loud and proud, to fill their lungs and cry rage in the spirit of no surrender.
“We stand tall on the broad shoulders of our legendary hobbit old man, our roots firm, imbued in the spirit of love and liberation for all humanity; while the butterflies flutter their wings from Silvertown to the stars and beyond.”
Actress and producer Lee-Ann van Rooi powerfully rendered another poem by Matthews, Manenberg, from the same anthology.
When Nina Simone’s Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood played, attendees softly sang along.
Paying tribute to Matthews was ANC stalwart Pallo Jordan, who first encountered Matthews when the poet was invited to speak at UCT.
He said Matthews was one of the few literary figures at that time able to express the justified anger of the oppressed and dispossessed.
“And you hear it expressed very well in that poem from Cry Rage, which we must remember coincides almost exactly with the uprising of the students in 1976. But his anger was not an anger filled with bitterness, it was an anger that looked at the future, and looked at the future with hope.
“There is this much-used phrase these days, speaking truth to power. James was a person who spoke truth to power and he spoke truth to power to everyone who was in power and he did it at a time when it was not easy to speak truth to power. There was a price attached to that and that price could be quite high.”
Activist and anti-apartheid mobiliser Mavis Smallberg said she met the free-spirited Matthews at a party in 1997.
“He considered himself as free as a gypsy and arrived at certain parties with stolen flowers in his hands or mouth, and then take a bath.”
It was after his daughter Terry’s death that the two had gone to a flower nursery “to soften sorrow in scents, and shapes, and colours and flowers, Smallberg said.
Matthews had chosen lavender to plant in his garden for his only daughter, now in full bloom at his home.
Matthews’ son, Jimi, said his father was not a card-carrying member of any political organisation, but believed passionately in the freedom and liberation of all people, irrespective of geography.
"He was fascinated by and supported the struggles of the people of South East Asia and the popular revolutions in South and Central America.”
He added that his father loved the company of young people and students, and throughout his life was consistent in his support for their struggles.
“In the late 60s and 70s, he supported the black student movements and black consciousness, meeting with the likes of Steve Biko, Mapetla Mohapi, Peter Jones and others. In the 80s, he could be found down by the barricades on the Cape Flats, as high school students took on the apartheid state with stones in their hands. And even with the Fees Must Fall Movement, he was often on the university campuses, always listening with interest to what the issues were- not seeking to advise or to lead, but to offer support and solidarity.”
He said the only political t-shirt his father had worn, and with pride was that of the Congress of South African Students (Cosas), the radical high school student movement.
Matthews was a single father, raising four children. He said his father had doted on his grand and great-grandchildren, treating them from the very start, as individuals with respect and agency.
“He was very proud of them, especially the girls. They got the very best of him.”