With the legacy of the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu under the spotlight and some accusing him of being a sell-out or having been too soft in his messages against apartheid, the Dean at St George’s Cathedral Michael Weeder has come to Tutu’s defence.
Weeder says it is only those, who don’t know the history of South Africa, who are making wrong assumptions about the clergy who passed on last Sunday at the age of 90.
“He drove the massive power of the sanctions,” says Reverend Weeder, speaking to the SABC News outside the Cathedral where Tutu’s body is lying in state for the second day on Friday.
Weeder explains, “There are people … Mkhonto weSizwe veterans today, who say before they went to exile, he blessed them. So, people who say that (he was too soft) don’t know our history. And they make assumptions about this gentleman and conclude that his messages are of reconciliation. He would throw his body on the potential corpse of a person who was about to be set alight. How non-violent is that?”
Dean at the St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town, Michael Weeder says its only those who don’t know the history of this country who make assumptions about #DesmondTutu. #SABCNews #DesmondTutuRIP pic.twitter.com/Gm1cztFfja
— Sipho King K Kekana (@KingKAzania) December 31, 2021
Under scrutiny
Tutu’s legacy came under widespread scrutiny immediately after his passing was announced, pointing to the widely shared video on social media of his exchange with the late Winnie Madikizela-Mandela where he begged her to apologise for her responsibility in the murder of Stompie Seipei.
But Weeder says there was more to Tutu than that. “In the days of the struggle, the Archbishop understood the role of those who sought a different path. But the path he chose as he believed God was leading him through was the path of collective community, organised … I don’t even wanna say non-violent because to stand up against violence, you are also causing the problem of occasional violent response to you.”
Weeder has described Tutu as “a wonderful example of the maximisation of ubuntu” – a concept that he says was not just a mere slogan to him, but rather a life he lived.
“You see some of us in humanity feel like we don’t belong, that we are not worthy and that we’re different. Whether we are gay or whether you are white, whether you are black or whatever … (we feel) we don’t belong at the table. And others also feel one doesn’t belong, one is not clever enough, too light, too dark. What the Archbishop, particularly when he was very active and with the authority of his office, he was always looking for the one who was standing at the edge of the crowd and the one who was cross and angry. And he would always go and ask ‘what is it?’ He was always reaching out.”
‘Maximisation of ubuntu’
The Dean at St George’s Cathedral says inclusivity is something Tutu has pursued all his life.
“So, inclusivity … his heart was like his arm, always open to embrace and to receive. Not without being willing to give a strong word of caution here and there, but he was a wonderful example of the maximisation of ubuntu. You know, people sometimes will make ubuntu sound like a slogan that you are because I am. But it’s also what Desmond Tutu did without saying it but living it.”
‘Remember those who lost their lives in 2021’
Delivering his New Year’s message to the nation on Friday, President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on the public to remember those who lost their lives in 2021, including Tutu, who will be laid to rest on Saturday.
“In the course of the year, we have lost men and women who were pillars of strength in our communities, leaders, activists and veterans of our struggle for liberation. Tomorrow, the nation will gather in spirit to lay to rest our beloved Archbishop Tutu. We have had to weather many storms in this past year.”
