File image taken on July 18, 2007 demonstrates South African Bishop Desmond Tutu crying following British musician Peter Gabriel sang ‘Biko’ throughout the launching ceremony by former South African President Nelson Mandela of the group recognized as The Elders in Johannesburg. — AFP pic
JOHANNESBURG, Dec 26 — South African anti-apartheid icon Desmond Tutu, explained as the country’s moral compass, died these days aged 90, President Cyril Ramaphosa stated.
“The passing of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is yet another chapter of bereavement in our nation’s farewell to a era of excellent South Africans who have bequeathed us a liberated South Africa,” he explained in a statement.
A tireless activist, he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for combatting white minority rule in his state.
Famously outspoken, even right after the fall of the racist apartheid routine, Tutu never shied away from confronting South Africa’s shortcomings or injustices.
It was Tutu who coined and popularised the phrase “Rainbow Nation” to describe South Africa when Nelson Mandela turned the country’s initial black president. — AFP
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