President Cyril Ramaphosa has paid tribute to world-renowned actor, novelist and playwright Athol Fugard who passed away on Sunday in Stellenbosch.

Fugard was widely known as one of South Africa's greatest playwrights - writing plays which dealt with the Apartheid government's injustices and working with artists across the racial divide during South Africa's darkest parts of history.

"Beyond the impressive body of work that he has left behind, Athol Fugard will be remembered for being an outlier amongst the millions of white South Africans who blithely turned a blind eye to the injustices being perpetrated in their name," President Ramaphosa said.

Fugard's most well-known work include the plays No Good Friday, The Blood Knot, Master Harold and the Boys, and Sizwe Bansi is Dead.

His book, Tsotsi, was also the inspiration behind the 2005 Oscar winning movie of the same title.

In 1985, Time magazine honoured Fugard as the "greatest active playwright in the English-speaking world".

"As a country we are grateful that we were able to honour the legendary Athol Fugard during his lifetime with the National Order of Ikhamanga in Silver.

"The Fugard Theatre in District Six in Cape Town stands as a fitting tribute to a man whose life and works have left an indelible footprint, and that will continue to inspire generations of creative professionals for time to come," President Ramaphosa added.