Desmond Tutu is dead. The one who was a true icon of the fight against apartheid and Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 passed away at the age of 90, Sunday, December 26. It was the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, who confirmed the sad news by means of a press release. The president expresses “on behalf of all South Africans, his deep sadness following the death, this Sunday” of this essential figure in South African history.
“The death of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is a new chapter of mourning in our nation’s farewell to a generation of exceptional South Africans who left us a liberated South Africa,” added the president.
READ:
Full Presidency statement on the passing of Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
“We pray that Archbishop Tutu’s soul will rest in peace but that his spirit will stand sentry over the future of our nation.” pic.twitter.com/suzfgzVbzl
– Karyn Maughan (@karynmaughan) December 26, 2021
“A man of extraordinary intelligence, upright and invincible against the forces of apartheid, he was also tender and vulnerable in his compassion for those who had suffered oppression, injustice and violence under the apartheid, and for the oppressed and for the oppressors around the world, ”added Cyril Ramaphosa.
The Arch, as it was nicknamed by South Africans, had been weakened for several months. He no longer spoke in public, but always greeted the cameras present at each of his travels, smiling or mischievous glance, during his vaccine against the Covid in a hospital or during the office in Cape Town to celebrate his 90 years in October.
READ ALSOTea with Desmond Tutu, Archie’s first official outing
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