Lagatar24 Desk
Pretoria, Dec 26: Nobel Peace Prize winner, human rights activist and veteran of South Africa’s struggle against white minority rule, Desmond Mpilo Tutu has died on Sunday at the age of 90, the presidency announced.
Tutu was diagnosed with prostate cancer in the late 1990s, and he has been hospitalised several times in recent years for infections related to his cancer treatment.
“Ultimately, at the age of 90, he died peacefully this morning at the Oasis Frail Care Centre in Cape Town,” Dr Ramphela Mamphele, acting chairperson of the Archbishop Desmond Tutu IP Trust and Co-ordinator of the Archbishop’s Office, said in a statement on behalf of the Tutu family.
He is widely known for his anti-apartheid campaign, which resulted in him receiving a Nobal Prize in 1984. He also served as the chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, after the abolition 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,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said.
Desmond Mpilo Tutu is known for coining the term ‘Rainbow Nation’ to describe post-apartheid South Africa as a country where people of all racial and ethenic groups could live together in peace.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also condoled his death.
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu was a guiding light for countless people globally. His emphasis on human dignity and equality will be forever remembered. I am deeply saddened by his demise, and extend my heartfelt condolences to all his admirers. May his soul rest in peace.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 26, 2021
