Desmond Tutu, icon of the struggle against apartheid, has died

South African Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu, icon of the struggle against apartheid and Nobel Peace Prize winner, died Sunday at the age of 90, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced. 

 

The president expressed on behalf of all South Africans, his deep sadness at the death this Sunday of this key figure in South African history, in a statement.

 

The death of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is another chapter of mourning in our nation's farewell to a generation of outstanding South Africans who left us a liberated South Africa, the president added.

 

A man of extraordinary intelligence, integrity and invincibility against the forces of apartheid, he was also tender and vulnerable in his compassion for those who suffered oppression, injustice and violence under apartheid, and for the oppressed and oppressors around the world, Ramaphosa added.

 

The Arch, as he was nicknamed by the South Africans, had been weakened for several months. He no longer spoke in public but always greeted the cameras present at each of his movements, with a smile or a mischievous look, during his vaccine against Covid in a hospital or during the service in Cape Town to celebrate his 90th birthday in October.