Iconic South African cleric, Bishop Desmond Tutu dies at 90, as world leaders pay tribute

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and veteran of South Africa’s struggle against Apartheid, white minority rule, died on Sunday at the age of 90.

In 1984 Tutu won the Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent opposition to apartheid. A decade later, he witnessed the end of that regime and chaired a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, set up to unearth atrocities committed during those dark days.

This is also as President Muhammadu Buhari has already on behalf of the government and people of Nigeria condoled with his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africans and the global Christian body, particularly Anglican Communion, over the passing of Archbishop Emeritus, Desmond Tutu.

The outspoken Tutu was considered the nation’s conscience by both Black and white, an enduring testament to his faith and spirit of reconciliation in a divided nation.

He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in the late 1990s and in recent years was hospitalised on several occasions to treat infections associated with his cancer treatment.

“The passing of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is another chapter of bereavement in our nation’s farewell to a generation of outstanding South Africans who have bequeathed us a liberated South Africa,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said.

“Desmond Tutu was a patriot without equal.”

The South African presidency gave no details on the cause of death.

Tutu preached against the tyranny of the white minority but his fight for a fairer South Africa never ended, calling the Black political elite to account with as much feistiness as he had the white Afrikaners.

In his final years, he regretted that his dream of a “Rainbow Nation” had yet to come true.

“Ultimately, at the age of 90, he died peacefully at the Oasis Frail Care Centre in Cape Town this morning,” Dr Ramphela Mamphele, acting chairperson of the Archbishop Desmond Tutu IP Trust and Co-ordinator of the Office of the Archbishop, said in a statement on behalf of the Tutu family.

A frail-looking Tutu was seen in October being wheeled into his former parish at St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town, which used to be a safe haven for anti-apartheid activists, for a service marking his 90th birthday. read more

Dubbed “the moral compass of the nation”, his courage in defending social justice, even at great cost to himself, always shone through. He often fell out with his erstwhile allies at the ruling African National Congress party over their failures to address the poverty and inequalities that they promised to eradicate.

Tutu, just five feet five inches (1.68 metres) tall and with an infectious giggle, travelled tirelessly throughout the 1980s, becoming the face of the anti-apartheid movement abroad while many of the leaders of the rebel ANC such as Nelson Mandela were behind bars.

Although he was born near Johannesburg, he spent most of his later life in Cape Town and led numerous marches and campaigns to end apartheid from St George’s front steps, which became known as the “People’s Cathedral” and a powerful symbol of democracy. Known for punchy quotes, Tutu once said: “I wish I could shut up, but I can’t, and I won’t”. read more

Having officially retired from public life on his 79th birthday, Tutu continued to speak out on a range of moral issues, including accusing the West in 2008 of complicity in Palestinian suffering by remaining silent.

In 2013, he declared his support for gay rights, saying he would never “worship a God who is homophobic”.

Tributes poured in from around the world for the man fondly known as “The Arch”.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby hailed Tutu as a “a prophet and priest” while Pope Francis offered heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones.

Former U.S. President Barack Obama said Tutu was a “mentor, a friend, and a moral compass” who “never lost his impish sense of humor and willingness to find humanity in his adversaries”.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson noted Tutu’s “critical” role in the “struggle to create a new South Africa”, while his deputy Dominic Raab said Tutu’s adage of ‘Don’t raise your voice, improve your argument’ had “never felt more apt”.

Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere recalled “a great little man who showed the power of reconciliation and forgiveness”.

“We are better because he was here,” Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King, said.

In a letter to Tutu’s daughter Reverend Mpho Tutu, Tibet’s spiritual leader the Dalai Lama said the world had “lost a great man, who lived a truly meaningful life”.

Also reacting, President Buhari said the death of the iconic teacher, human rights activist, leader of thought, scholar and philanthropist, further creates a void in a world in dire need of wisdom, integrity, courage and sound reasoning, which were qualities that the Nobel Peace Prize Winner, 1984, typified and exemplified in words and actions.

“As a South African, global citizen and renowned world leader, the President affirms that the historic role Archbishop Tutu played in the fight against apartheid, enduring physical assaults, jail terms and prolonged exile, took him beyond the pulpit to global, political relevance, and his position, under President Nelson Mandela, in heading the Truth and Reconciliation Commission provided healing and direction for his country and the world,” the President added.

“President Buhari commiserates with Leah Tutu, the spouse of the spiritual leader and lifelong partner in the struggle against injustice, corruption and inequality, the Tutu family, board and staff of Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, Elders and Nobel Laureate Group, urging solace that the voice of the scholar and teacher, his published works, and inspirational quotes will resonate through generations, bringing more light and clarity to religious diversity, democracy and good governance.

“The President prays for the repose of the soul of Archbishop Tutu, whose life and times sent an unforgettable message on love and forgiveness,” read a statement from the Presidency, Sunday.

Also reacting, former Nigerian President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo recalled the role played by late Desmond Tutu in getting Nigeria’s debt canceled, declaring that his death was a personal loss to him.

Obasanjo in a condolence letter to the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday, stated that “Over the years, Reverend Tutu had shown focused, credible, bold, sensitive and purposeful leadership not just to members of the Anglican Church but to all Christians.”

The letter, which was released to the media by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi, added that “Tutu had been part of building and strengthening the Anglican Church, and its eminent place in the Church system in South Africa today is not unrelated to his selfless service and leadership.”

On the country’s debt cancellation role, Obasanjo said that he acknowledged late Tutu’s “uncommon solidarity and the deep passion with which he had argued Nigeria’s case for full debt cancellation by the contents of his letter to Mr. Gordon Brown, the then United Kingdom’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, during my administration as the President of Nigeria.

“This heroic advocacy effort of his with respect to Nigeria’s indebtedness to the Paris Club on behalf of Nigeria was very much in his character.”

Obasanjo told Ramaphosa that “Reverend Tutu was a patriotic and highly respected Teacher, Preacher, Intercessor and Field Commander of the Lord’s Army. He symbolized one of our finest examples of how a life truly dedicated to our Saviour Jesus Christ can make a difference. He had been a difference-maker for his family, his friends, his flock, his community, the Church, the Republic of South Africa, and, indeed, the world.

Tutu and his long-time friend Nelson Mandela lived for a time on the same street in the South African township of Soweto, making Vilakazi Street the only one in the world to host two Nobel Peace Prize winners.

“His most characteristic quality is his readiness to take unpopular positions without fear,” Mandela once said of Tutu. “Such independence of mind is vital to a thriving democracy.”

At a Boxing Day service at St George’s, the Very Reverend Michael Weeder paid homage to Tutu from the Archbishop’s former pulpit, saying it was “once the celebrated point of command” before asking the handful of parishioners present to bow their heads in a moment of silence.