The Desmond and Leah Tutu Foundation has described the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu as the embodiment of faith in action and as someone who spoke out against injustices.
Tutu passed away at the age of 90 at his family home in Cape Town on Sunday, December 26. According to the foundation, Tutu was a living embodiment of faith in action, speaking boldly against racism, injustice, corruption, and oppression, not just in apartheid South Africa but wherever in the world he saw wrongdoing.
“We mourn his passing and extend deep sympathy to Mrs Nomalizo Leah Tutu, siblings Trevor Thamsanqa Tutu, Naomi Nontombi Tutu, Theresa Thandeka Tutu, Mpho Tutu van Furth and their families.
“We commit ourselves to continue telling the story and emulating the example of this son of Africa who became an inspiring sign of peace, hope and justice across the world,” the Foundation said.
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The foundation indicated further that Tutu helped in the fight against Apartheid, as he was unafraid of also speaking out against any injustices in South Africa’s new democratic dispensation.
“While Tutu helped shepherd the democratic dispensation into being, he was unafraid of reminding the new governing party of both its moral responsibilities toward all South Africans and its growing failings. He was realistic about the weaknesses of politicians but expressed both sadness and anger as corruption took hold in the ANC.
“The wider world showered him with honours, most notably the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, and after retirement, his primary international responsibility was with a group of fellow Nobel Peace Laureates and statespersons known as ‘The Elders,’ committed to international problem-solving and peace-making,” the foundation said.
Meanwhile, the Nelson Mandela Foundation described the passing of Tutu as an immeasurable loss for the country.
“He was larger than life, and for so many in South Africa and around the world his life has been a blessing. His contributions to struggles against injustice, locally and globally, are matched only by the depth of his thinking about the making of liberatory futures for human societies.
“He was an extraordinary human being. A thinker. A leader. A shepherd. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this most difficult time,” the Nelson Mandela Foundation said.
Mandela and Tutu were both founding members of The Elders, an international grouping of inspirational leaders who has done human rights work in countries around the world.
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