Lewin won for his memoir, Stones Against The Mirror (published by Umuzi), which the judges described as "a beautifully written and intensely personal story of friendship, betrayal and struggle". The book tells the story of Lewin's journey to meet his former colleague and friend, Adrian Leftwich, who had betrayed him to the security police in 1964 resulting in a lengthy jail sentence for sabotage.
The chairman of the Alan Paton judging panel, Prishani Naidoo, said this was "not a story of reconciliation, it speaks in very moving ways to the truth of the character of experiences of friendship, politics and life in apartheid South Africa".
Lewin commented: "I am thrilled to have won the 24th Alan Paton Award and I have to express my gratitude to Ray Hartley and his team at the Sunday Times who helps to nurture the literature in South Africa - and that is vital!"
Lewin previously won the 2003 Olive Schreiner Prize for his book Bandiet Out Of Jail. A former journalist, he went into exile after completing his jail sentence, returning to South Africa in 1992.
Michiel Heyns completed a rare double win the Sunday Times Fiction Prize with Lost Ground (published by Jonathan Ball), a crime story set in the Karoo. Heyns was a previous joint winner in 2007 for his exceptional translation of Marlene van Niekerk's Agaat.
Lost Ground was described by the judging panel chairman, Professor Sarah Nuttall, as "clever, fast and funny", and she praised its "sheer range of characters" with voices that are "authentic and profound as they unravel the deep threads of what is holding them together".
Heyns' said of the award: "I was privileged to be on an extremely strong shortlist this year and wasn't at all optimistic about winning the 2012 Fiction Prize, but what a wonderful surprise it was when the announcement was made. I must say that I am pleased and honoured to have been in such good shortlist company."
The 68-year-old Michiel Heyns retired as a Professor of English at Stellenbosch University in 2003 to take up full-time writing and has produced five novels - including the recently published Invisible Furies - as well as the award-winning translation of Agaat.
