"I have learnt with great sadness of the passing of this colossus of African writing. Chinua Achebe was indeed Africa's greatest literary export and a legend of African literature.
"It was in his famous novel Things Fall Apart that many Africans saw themselves in literature and arts at the time when most of the writing was about Africans but not by Africans," said President Zuma on Friday, 22 March.
The president said that the African continent owed a debt of gratitude to Achebe.
"On behalf of the South African government and all her people, we wish to send our deepest condolences to the Achebe family, his birth country of Nigeria and the whole literature community. May his soul rest in peace," said the president.
The Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory also passed on their condolences to Achebe's family.
"On behalf of our chairperson, Board of Trustees and staff of the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory, we would like to offer our condolences to the family of Professor Chinua Achebe, a great African writer and thinker.
"Nelson Mandela referred to Achebe as a writer 'in whose company the prison walls fell down'," said spokesperson for the centre, Sello Hatang.
SAnews.gov.za is a South African government news service, published by the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS). SAnews.gov.za (formerly BuaNews) was established to provide quick and easy access to articles and feature stories aimed at keeping the public informed about the implementation of government mandates.
Go to: http://www.sanews.gov.za
