South Africa on Monday began a week of mourning for revered anti-apartheid campaigner Archbishop Desmond Tutu, IgbereTV reports.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate passed away on Sunday aged 90, stripping the world of a towering moral figure and the last great protagonist of a heroic South African era.
âHe was brave, he was forthright and we loved him just for that, because he was the voice of the voiceless,â President Cyril Ramaphosa told reporters after visiting Tutuâs family in Cape Town.
The funeral will be held on New Yearâs Day at St Georgeâs Cathedral in his former Cape Town parish, Tutuâs foundation said, although ceremonies are likely to be muted because of Covid-19 restrictions.
Dozens of people braved rain to gather outside the cathedral on Monday, leaving flowers and messages.
The widow of South Africaâs first black president Nelson Mandela, Graca Machel, issued a statement to say she mourned âthe loss of a brotherâ.
Tutu âis the last of an extraordinarily outstanding generation of leaders that Africa birthed and gifted to the worldâ, she said
