Johannesburg, Dec. 26 (BNA) Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and a veteran of South Africa’s struggle against white minority rule, died on Sunday at the age of 90, the presidency said.
In 1984, Tutu won the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent opposition to apartheid. A decade later, he witnessed the end of that regime and headed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was set up to expose the atrocities committed during those dark days, Reuters reported.
An outspoken Tutu was considered the conscience of the nation by both black and white, a lasting 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 he has been hospitalized on several occasions for infections associated with cancer treatment.
“The death of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is another chapter in bereavement in our nation’s farewell to a generation of eminent South Africans who inherited a liberated South Africa,” said President Cyril Ramaphosa.
“Desmond Tutu was a patriot like no other.”
The presidency did not give any details about the cause of death.
Tutu preached against white minority tyranny, but his battle for a more just South Africa never ended, calling on the black political elite to be just as bold as white Afrikaners.
In his later years, he lamented that his dream of a “Rainbow Nation” had not yet come true.
“Ultimately, he passed away peacefully at the age of 90 at the Oasis Friel Care Center in Cape Town this morning,” said Dr. Ramvela Mamphili, Acting Chair of Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Coordinator of the Archbishop’s Office. In a statement on behalf of the Toto family.
A frail-looking Toto was seen in October being wheeled to his former parish at St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town, which has been a safe haven for anti-apartheid activists, for a service marking his 90th birthday.
He was dubbed the nation’s “moral compass,” and his courage in standing up for social justice, even if it came at a great cost to himself, always shined. He often fell out with his former allies in the ruling African National Congress over their failure to tackle the poverty and inequalities they promised to eradicate.
Five feet five inches (1.68 m) tall with an infectious laugh, Toto traveled tirelessly throughout the 1980s, becoming the face of the anti-apartheid movement abroad while many rebel ANC leaders 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 many 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.
After formally retiring from public life on his 79th birthday, Tutu continued to speak publicly on a range of ethical issues, including accusing the West in 2008 of complicity in the suffering of Palestinians by remaining silent.
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