The legacy of the late clergyman Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu will go on to indicate that circumstances at the height of his clerical career made him to rise above many, to such an extent that even of those who inherited his clerical boots as he went into retirement decades ago nobody has managed to come any closer to his stature.
With Tutu’s death yesterday at the age of 90, many have expressed their condolences to the bereaved family but also to express gratitude for a life which had had an impact on many world events, and on world leaders too.
Namibia’s head of state Dr Hage Geingob expressed his shock and dismay over Tutu’s death.
“His unrelenting commitment to the universal values of peace, unity, solidarity, freedom and justice for the people of our region triumphed when we gained independence in 1990 and Apartheid rule was dismantled in South Africa in 1994,” Geingob tweeted.
“As Namibians, and people of this region, we owe this global figure and exceptional man of God a huge debt of gratitude for his indelible footprint in our fight for freedom and justice against oppression, racism and white minority rule.”
Desmond Tutu, who was a fierce critic of the Apartheid Government in the eighties and early 90s, became a fierce critic of the ANC Government as he saw the government leadership of the former liberation movement becoming greedy and involving themselves in corruption.
Even at the time when Tutu was in retirement and battling old age, he was still an active critic of the ANC government, especially the former Zuma government.
While Tutu was hailed by many for his uncompromising attitude towards corrupt leaders of the ANC as he had been towards the racist leaders of apartheid, some people within the borders of his home country South Africa criticized him for his unwillingness to bring to book apartheid criminals exposed by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Some people also criticized him for his support of the rights of homosexuals.
In the photo: Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
