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TUTu

Pule Mabe
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Born in Klerksdorp on 7 October 1931, Desmond Mpilo Tutu was the second of four children of Zacheriah and Aletta Tutu.

He was educated at the Johannesburg Bantu High School at which his father taught.

Tutu then went to study at the Pretoria Bantu Normal College where he graduated as a teacher in 1954.

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu married Nomalizo Leah Shenxane on July 2, 1955.

Desmond and Leah Tutu married in 1955 one week after the signing of the Freedom Charter at Kliptown, in Soweto. Image: Twitter

Tutu resigned from his teaching post in 1957.

Ordained an Anglican parish priest in 1961, Tutu lectured at a theological seminary in Johannesburg.

In the late 1960s, he moved to London, where he obtained a Masters degree from Kings College, London.

From 1972 to 1975, he served as an assistant director for the World Council of Churches. He served as Dean of St. Mary’s Cathedral in Johannesburg (1975–76), becoming the first black Anglican Dean.

In 1978, Tutu accepted an appointment as the General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches and became a leading spokesperson for the rights of Black South Africans.

Gaining national and international attention, he emphasized non-violent means of protest and encouraged the application of economic pressure by countries dealing with South Africa.

Under his vigorous leadership, the church in South Africa became immersed in the anti-apartheid political struggle.

Tutu constantly told the government of the time that its racist approach defied the will of God and for that reason could not succeed.

He strived to remain outside party politics and always used the Bible as his text, saying God decreed all Africans were equal.

Tutu inevitably became heavily embroiled in controversy after he spoke out against the injustice of the apartheid system. For several years, he was denied a passport to travel abroad, but in 1982 the South African government withdrew his restriction in the face of national and international concern.

In 1984, Desmond Tutu was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace, not only as a gesture of support to him and to the South African Council of Churches of which he is leader, but also to all individuals and groups in South Africa, who with their concern for human dignity, fraternity and democracy, incite the admiration of the world.

Desmond Tutu was honored for his role in fighting apartheid .Image: DW AKADEMIE

In 1985, he was installed as Johannesburg’s first black Anglican Bishop and in 1986, he was elected the first black Archbishop of Cape Town, thus becoming the primate of South Africa’s 1 600 000-member Anglican church.

In 1987, he was appointed Anglican Arch-Bishop of Cape Town. Tutu resigned from this position in June 1996, but was named Archbishop Emeritus as from July 1996.

In 1995, Former President Nelson Mandela appointed Tutu head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which investigated allegations of human rights abuses during the apartheid era.

Promoter of world peace

Post his retirement, Tutu maintained being a social activist and a firm promoter of world peace.

In 2001, the Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation USA was established with an aim of using Tutu’s life and teachings to inspire young people to build a world of peace within, peace between and peace among.

In January 2004, the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation was formally established. The Foundation’s activities include HIV treatment, prevention, training and tuberculosis treatment monitoring in the hardest hit communities of the Western Cape.

In 2007, Tutu together with former President Nelson Mandela, former US President Jimmy Carter, retired UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and former Irish President Mary Robinson formed The Elders, an independent group of global leaders who work together for peace and human rights.

The Archbishop served for six years as Chair of the organisation before stepping down in May 2013, but remained an Honorary Elder.

Together with his wife, the Archbishop established the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation in ____???___________ which aimed to promote peace-building through conflict resolution and to foster reconciliation as well as cultivate accountable servant leadership.

In 2011, he announced his retirement from public life.

President Jacob Zuma has described Tutu as one that has a special place in South African’s hearts.

“Archbishop Tutu has a special place in the hearts of our people for the manner in which he stood up against the apartheid State, speaking out against injustice and oppression… His campaign against sanctions added greater impetus to that of the liberation movement led by the African National Congress, and kept the spirit of resistance high inside the country.”

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