Lungani Zungu
World-renowned Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is blowing out candles on Thursday as he turns 90-years-old.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate will celebrate his birthday with his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren in Cape Town, where he lives with his wife Leah.
“Among close family members, who have travelled to Cape Town this week, are two of the couple’s overseas-based daughters, Naomi and Mpho, and the Archbishop’s sister, Gloria Radebe, from Krugersdorp,” the Desmond and Leah Tutu Foundation said in a statement.
The 11th annual Desmond Tutu International Peace Lecture will be held online on Thursday as part of his birthday celebrations.
The speakers will include the Dalai Lama; former Irish president Mary Robinson; Chairperson of The Elders Graca Machel; and former Public Protector Advocate Thuli Madonsela.
Tutu’s name is engraved in the history books for his role in the fight against the apartheid system and for peace in South Africa, a country that was once decimated by racial segregation.
For his role Tutu, who retired from public life in 2010, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.
When the country ushered in democracy in 1994, Tutu did not stop being critical and outspoken against the ANC-led government, especially during former president Jacob Zuma’s tenure.
He launched a blistering attack on the Zuma-led government when the Dalai Lama was denied a visa to South Africa and was forced to cancel his trip in 2011.
“I really am warning you out of love. I’m warning you like I warned the Nationalists. I am warning you. One day‚ we will start praying for the defeat of the ANC government,” he said, at the time.
“You are disgraceful. I want to warn you. You are behaving in a way that is totally at variance with the things for which we stood.”
President Cyril Ramaphosa is among the prominent figures who have sent well wishes to the Arch, as Tutu is affectionately known.
“At times when we have found ourselves losing our way, you have taken us well to task. For nearly three decades, yours has been a voice of conscience, guiding us and motivating us to do better by our people,” said Ramaphosa.
Tutu was the chairperson of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which investigated crimes committed during Apartheid.
Born in Klerksdorp, North West in 1931, Tutu later worked as a teacher before he was ordained as a priest in the 1960s.
Happy birthday Arch, may you see many more years to come!
