By Desmond Tutu, South Africa’s archbishop and anti-apartheid icon, has died at the age of 90.
President Cyril Ramaphosa made this known in a statement issued on behalf of the Tutu family, on Sunday.
The statement described Tutu as a man who “turned his own misfortune into a teaching opportunity to raise awareness and reduce the suffering of others.”
It reads, “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.”
“He wanted the world to know that he had prostate cancer and that the sooner it is detected, the better the chance of managing it.
“Ultimately, at the age of 90, he died peacefully at the Oasis Frail Care Centre in Cape Town this morning.”
In 1984, Tutu, a tireless activist, received the Nobel Peace Prize for his campaign of non-violent opposition to South Africa’s white minority rule.
It was Tutu who coined and popularised the term “Rainbow Nation” to describe South Africa when Nelson Mandela became the country’s first black president.
