South African artist Ben Dekker dies at 86
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Daily Maverick
Ben Dekker, a South African forester, actor and philosopher, died on 9 November at the age of 86 in a hospital near Port St Johns. He lived on the Eastern Cape coast and died of natural causes, reports Daily Maverick.
Benito Adolfo Dekker, a South African artist known for his nomadic lifestyle on the coast of the Eastern Cape province, died on 9 November at Isilimela Hospital near Port St Johns, aged 86. His death was from natural causes after a month of treatment, according to Daily Maverick.
Born on 21 October 1940 in Centane, in the Eastern Cape, Dekker spent much of his life near Port St Johns, in a hut surrounded by vegetation and overlooking the sea. He ate mussels, abalone and oysters that he collected from the ocean and made his own bread, reports Daily Maverick.
Dekker had said he wanted to lead a life inspired by Dutch sailor Piet Hein, a privateer and naval commander of the 17th century. He also recounted on television that as a child he had walked between East London and Port St Johns, several hundred kilometres each way, according to Daily Maverick.
