Acclaimed award-winning author Elsa (Elsabé) Joubert has died, aged 97, after contracting Covid-19 and developing pneumonia.
Joubert gained fame with her novel Die Swerfjare van Poppie Nongena (The Long Journey of Poppie Nongena), voted one of the top 100 best books of the 20th century. It has been translated into 13 languages and recently became an award-winning film.
Her son, Nico Steytler, a law professor at the University of the Western Cape, said: ‘Our last conversation was sad; that was when she heard she had contracted Covid. She was still positive and hopeful that she’d make it. She was a very strong person.’
After gaining a BA degree and Secondary School Education Diploma at Stellenbosch University, Joubert obtained a master’s degree in Dutch-Afrikaans literature at the University of Cape Town in 1945.
She taught briefly before becoming editor of Die Huisgenoot (1946-48). During this time she met her husband, Klaas Steytler, a journalist, publisher and author.
Joubert won several prestigious local and international awards. In 1981, the British Royal Society of Literature awarded her the Winifred Holtby prize and made her a fellow of the society. She received an honorary doctorate from Stellenbosch in 2001 for her contribution to literature.
In a poignant open letter in mid-May, Joubert pleaded with the government to lift lockdown restrictions to allow elderly people to see their loved ones in person.
Speaking of the pain of having them turned away at the door of her old-age home, she said:’“Naturally speaking, we are in the final weeks and months of our lives.’
On the loss of personal contact, she said: ‘I am waning without it. Telephones and videos and Skype … help, but it is not enough. It is not the same.’