Desmond Tutu, a prominent South African human rights activist whose contribution to the end of apartheid regime in South Africa earned worldwide acclaim, has died.
Mr Tutu, a retired Anglican archbishop, died on Sunday morning in South Africa, according to President Cyril Ramaphosa. He was 90.
“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,” Mr Ramaphosa said in a statement on Sunday morning. “Desmond Tutu was a patriot without equal; a leader of principle and pragmatism who gave meaning to the biblical insight that faith without works is dead. We pray that Archbishop Tutu’s soul will rest in peace but that his spirit will stand sentry over the future of our nation.”
Mr Tutu, born on October 7, 1931, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his non-violent opposition to the brutal apartheid regime that held sway in South Africa for decades. He retired from his role as the Archbishop of Cape Town in 1996, but continued to render humanitarian services to South Africans and people around the world.
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