Desmond Tutu, powerful voice against racism, dies

Sunday, December 26, 2021

Islamabad news world DW news December 26, 2021 - Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a South African anti-apartheid activist who has been described as the country's "moral benchmark", has died at the age of 90. Confirming this, South African President Sirleaf Ramaphosa paid tribute to him. According to Ramaphosa, "The death of Archbishop Emirates Desmond Tutu is another sad chapter in our nation's farewell to an extraordinary generation of South Africans who have given us an independent South African heritage."

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He is praised not only in his own country but also internationally for speaking out against racial discrimination.

Tutu has spoken out against Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, climate change and equal rights for homosexuals.He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.

Desmond Tutu was one of the most powerful figures in South Africa's anti-apartheid movement against the black majority by the white minority.

They worked tirelessly but non-violently to end it. To this end, he used his influence, first as the first black bishop of Johannesburg and then as archbishop of Cape Town. At the same time, he continued to hold public demonstrations to end racial discrimination in the country and internationally.

Desmond Tutu was born on October 7, 1931, in the western part of Johannesburg. His mother was a housemaid while his father was a teacher. He became the first black secretary general of the South African Council for Churches in 1978. In this way, he had the opportunity to use his influence on the 1.5 million members of this council to work for the elimination of racial discrimination in the country.

Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for speaking out against South Africa's racist government. That same year, he became Johannesburg's first black archbishop and called on the international community to impose sanctions on South Africa's white minority government.Apartheid in South Africa ended in 1994.

Desmond Tutu announced his retirement from public life in 2010 at the age of 79. He last appeared in public this year when he went to a hospital for a vaccine. He shook hands with the wheelchair but did not speak.

(AFP, AP, Reuters)