By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Photo Credit: Stephen Voss.
President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday visited the home of late Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu in Cape Town.
Speaking outside the Tutu family home, Ramaphosa said “A lot of great things can be said about him. His global status and the love that he is being showered with from across the various countries in the world speaks volumes of what he stood for and what people saw in him as a great leader. So we are enormously diminished by his passing but at the same time we are filled with a celebratory moment and we should use this opportunity to celebrate his life and to try and draw as much as we can with the various good things that he sought to impart to us.”
Ramaphosa’s visit came after other high-ranking ANC officials gathered at Tutu’s home earlier on Monday, with national executive committee member Naledi Pandor and the party’s Western Cape leadership leading the delegation.
On Sunday,Ramaphosa hailed the late Archbishop Tutu as a symbol that embodied the essence of humanity and a staunch advocate for social justice.
The President announced that the country’s flags will be flown at half-mast from the time when the funeral is declared.
“In honour of the life and contribution of Desmond Mpilo Tutu, the government will be led by the Anglican Church in the conduct of his funeral. There will be a period of mourning during which the national flag shall fly at half-mast at all flag stations countrywide and at South African diplomatic missions abroad. This will be observed from the time of the formal declaration of the funeral until the night before the funeral service.”
President @CyrilRamaphosa arrives at the family home of Archbishop Desmond Tutu to pay his respects. Archbishop Tutu, the last surviving South African laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize, passed away in Cape Town at the age of 90. #RIPDesmondTutu pic.twitter.com/38l4xhxkVg
— Presidency | South Africa ?? (@PresidencyZA) December 27, 2021
Thabo Cecil Makgoba, the South African Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, also announced that Tutu would be cremated.
Bishop Michael Nuttal will officiate Tutu’s funeral service.
Speaking at the press conference, the Dean of the Cathedral Michael Weeder said Tutu’s ashes would be interred at the mausoleum at the cathedral, in a designated spot.