Johannesburg, South Africa — South African
anti-apartheid icon Archbishop Desmond Tutu, described as the country's moral
compass, died on Sunday aged 90, sparking an outpouring of tributes for the
outspoken
Nobel peace laureate.
اضافة اعلان
Tutu, who had largely faded from public life
in recent years, was remembered for his easy humor and characteristic smile —
and above all his tireless fight against injustices of all colors.
South Africa's President
Cyril Ramaphosa,
announcing the archbishop's death on Sunday, called him a man of
"extraordinary intellect, integrity and invincibility against the forces
of apartheid".
"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," he said, weeks after the death of FW de Klerk, the
country's last white president.
Former US president Barack Obama, the
country's first Black leader, hailed Tutu as a towering figure and "moral
compass".
"A universal spirit, Archbishop Tutu
was grounded in the struggle for liberation and justice in his own country, but
also concerned with injustice everywhere," Obama said in a
statement.
Mourners gathered at his former parish in
Cape Town, St George's Cathedral, while others massed at his home, some holding
flower bouquets, according to an AFP journalist.
"If it was not for him, probably we
would have been lost as a country," said Miriam Mokwadi, a
67-year-old retired nurse, outside the cathedral.
The South African cricket team wore black
armbands in his honor on the first day of the first Test against India in South
Africa.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said Tutu
had "inspired a generation of African leaders who embraced his non-violent
approaches in the liberation struggle.”
European leaders joined the chorus with UK
Prime Minister
Boris Johnson calling him a "critical figure" in the
struggle to create a new South Africa and French President Emmanuel Macron
saying Tutu had "dedicated his life to human rights and equality.”
The Vatican said Pope Francis was saddened
and offered "heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones".
'Rainbow Nation'
A tireless activist, Tutu won the Nobel
Peace Prize in 1984 for combating white minority rule in his country.
He coined the term "Rainbow
Nation" to describe South Africa when Nelson Mandela became the country's
first black president in 1994.
And he retired in 1996 to lead a harrowing
journey into South Africa's brutal past as head of the
Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which lifted the lid on the horrors of the apartheid regime.
However, Tutu has also criticized the ruling
African National Congress (ANC) — the vanguard of the fight against
white-minority rule.
He challenged Mandela over generous salaries
for cabinet ministers and stridently criticized the corruption that mushroomed
under ex-president Jacob Zuma.
Ordained at the age of 30 and appointed
archbishop in 1986, he used his position to advocate for international sanctions
against apartheid, and later to lobby for rights globally.
Tutu was diagnosed with prostate cancer in
1997 and repeatedly underwent treatment.
His public appearances became increasingly
scarce and, in one of his last this year, he emerged from hospital in a
wheelchair to get a COVID vaccine, waving but not offering comment.
The archbishop had been in a weakened state
for several months and died peacefully at 7:00 am (0500 GMT) on Sunday,
according to several of his relatives interviewed by AFP.
'Larger than life'
The
Nelson Mandela Foundation called Tutu
"an extraordinary human being. A thinker. A leader. A shepherd."
"He was larger than life, and for so
many in South Africa and around the world his life has been a blessing,"
it said in a statement.
Tutu was born in the small town of
Klerksdorp, west of Johannesburg, on October 7, 1931, to a domestic worker and
a school teacher.
He trained as a teacher before anger at the
inferior education system set up for black children prompted him to become a priest.
He lived for a while in Britain, where, he
recalled, he would needlessly ask for directions just to be called
"Sir" by a white policeman.
Tutu relentlessly challenged the status quo
on issues like race, homosexuality, and religious doctrine and gave his
pioneering support for the assisted dying movement.
And he did not shy away from his own
end.
"I have prepared for my death and have
made it clear that I do not wish to be kept alive at all costs," he said
in an opinion piece in The Washington Post in 2016.
"I hope I am treated with compassion
and allowed to pass on to the next phase of life's journey in the manner of my
choice."
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