The office of the President has announced that the country’s Archbishop, Desmond Tutu, has died. Tutu was one of the leaders of the anti-apartheid movement.
In a statement about him, President Cyril Ramaphosa called his death “another chapter of bereavement in our nation’s farewell to a generation of outstanding South Africans who have bequeathed us a liberated South Africa”.
The President’s statement continues;
From the pavements of resistance in South Africa to the pulpits of the world’s great cathedrals and places of worship, and the prestigious setting of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, the Arch distinguished himself as a non-sectarian, inclusive champion of universal human rights.
Many years back (in the 1990s), Mr Tutu was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer. He has since been hospitalized several times in recent years. This was primarily to treat infections that were associated with his cancer treatment.
Mr Tutu was known for being an open critic of the oppression of black people in South Africa. In 1984, he was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent opposition to South Africa’s white minority rule. The late Archbishop’s family has also released a statement confirming his death.
On behalf of his family, Dr Ramphela Mamphele, acting chairperson of the Archbishop Desmond Tutu IP Trust and coordinator of the Office of the Archbishop, said in the statement that “he died peacefully at the Oasis Frail Care Centre in Cape Town this morning,”. No details have been shared about the cause of his death.
