The loss of Tutu is immeasurable – Nelson Mandela Foundation
South Africans and people around the world are waking to news of the passing of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu.
The anti-apartheid icon passed away at the age of 90 on Sunday morning.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation CEO Sello Hatang says the loss of Tutu is immeasurable as he was an extraordinary thinker and leader.
“The Arch meant everything to me, I first met him during the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and was privileged to work with him on a number of projects over the years. He was a friend to Madiba and to the foundation.”
Hatang says there was a long history between former president Nelson Mandela and the Archbishop.
“Nelson Mandela and the Archbishop Emeritus first met at a debating competition in the early 1950s. It would be four decades later before they met again, on the day that Mandela was released from prison.
“His first night as a free man was spent at the home of the Tutus in Bishopscourt, Cape Town. On that occasion before everyone retired for the night, Tutu offered a prayer of thanksgiving and led a singing of Reverend Tiyo Soga’s famous hymn in isiXhosa, ‘Lizalis’idinga lakho’ – ‘Let your will be done’.”
Hatang says the legacies both icons leave behind are guidelines on working for a better world.
“We owe it both to Madiba and to the Arch to continue working for the country and the world of their dreams. Their intersecting legacies are powerful resources for social justice work.”
“When Nelson Mandela passed away in 2013, Archbishop Emeritus Tutu said ‘This is a man who cared.’ As the Foundation mourns today the passing of our beloved Arch, we in turn can say precisely the same of him. May he rest in peace.”
ALSO READ:
