The funeral of Archbishop of South Africa and Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu has been held. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa attended the funeral of the South African anti-apartheid leader at a state-sponsored event at Cape Town’s St. George’s Cathedral on Saturday. There were South African dignitaries, including family members.
Desmond Tutu died on December 26 at the age of 90. South Africans are mourning his death for seven days. However, the number of guests at the state event at St. George’s Cathedral was limited due to the coronary artery infection. He was later buried there.
At the time, President Cyril Ramaphosa said Tutu was a world leader with a sense of humanity and a high moral standing. He has worked for people all his life.
Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury in the United Kingdom, said in a previously recorded message that when the people of the world were in darkness, he (Tutu) was the light in the darkness. He has shed light on the fight against fear, conflict, oppression and aggression around the world.
Tutu’s wife Nomalijo Leah attended the funeral in a wheelchair. She came wearing a purple scarf. The color of Tutu’s religious attire was purple. Cyril Ramaphosa also came to the ceremony wearing a purple tie. Tutu’s daughter Reverend Nontombi Naomi Tutu was present.
A huge picture of Tutu was taken outside the cathedral. For the last two days, people from all walks of life have been remembering Tutu with flowers and candles. Tutu’s body was laid to rest there on Thursday and Friday to pay their last respects.
Hundreds of people watched Tutu’s funeral live on the big screen in front of Cape Town’s City Hall. Mama Phila, 54, came to pay her respects to Tutu. “Tutu taught us love, unity and respect for each other,” she said. That is why we have come here today to pay our last respects to him. “
Desmond Tutu was born in 1931 in Clarksdorp, known as the city of gold mines. His father Zakaraya was a teacher and his mother Aleta was a housewife. Following in his father’s footsteps, he chose teaching as his profession. But she quit teaching in protest of the government’s ban on schooling for black children.
Tutu was influenced by Bishop Trevor Huddleston and other anti-apartheid white clergy. In 1971 he was ordained a pastor of the church. In 1975, Tutu was elected the first black Anglican dean of Johannesburg, South Africa.
Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1974 for his role in the struggle for the abolition of apartheid.
Tutu was one of the well known personalities of the country and abroad. Tutu was a contemporary of Nelson Mandela, the undisputed leader of South Africa’s anti-apartheid movement.
While in prison, Tutu and his associates led the movement. He later served as the head of the anti-apartheid truth-seeking committee set up in South Africa.
