South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu has died at the age of 90. Tutu was the last surviving South African laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize.
In this file photo, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is seen attending the unveiling ceremony of a statue of Nelson Mandela at City Hall in Cape Town, South Africa on July 24, 2018. (Image: Reuters)
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and veteran of South Africa’s struggle against white minority rule, has died at the age of 90, the president said on Sunday.
Tutu was diagnosed with prostate cancer in the late 1990s and has been hospitalized on several occasions in recent years to treat infections associated with his cancer treatment.
“Finally, at the age of 90, he passed away peacefully this morning at the Oasis Friel Care Center in Cape Town,” said Dr Ramphela Mumple, Acting President of the Archbishop Desmond Tutu IP Trust and Coordinator of the Archbishop’s Office. In a statement on behalf of the Tutu family.
He did not give details about the cause of death.
Tutu received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his nonviolent protest against apartheid. A decade later, he saw the end of that regime and he presided over a Truth and Reconciliation Commission set up to investigate the atrocities committed during those dark days.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said: “The passing of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is another chapter in our nation’s farewell to a generation of outstanding South Africans who have given us a free South Africa.”
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