‘Many of us have been touched’: South Africans mourn the death of Desmond Tutu | News

Cape Town, South Africa – A general darkness has set in when tributes – and some criticism – are poured into South Africa death archbishop of the anti-apartheid icon Desmond Tutu.

An ethnically diverse mourning group gathered on Sunday outside the St. George’s Cathedral in Cape Town to pay their respects and pay their last respects to the 90-year-old Anglican priest.

“The passage of the bow touched us a lot. Even those who did not always agree politically say goodbye to the old man, ”Tsweu Molem told Al Jazeera, as Tutu taught his father at Munsieville High School.

Cape Town, Bloemfontein and Pretoria are hosting a number of memorial services in major cities. tributes are included African leaders and the international community played a key role in building a democratic South Africa for one man.

“Racial inequality”

Modibe Madiba, who runs a popular alternative media platform Insight Factor, told young South Africans in Al Jazeera that “leaders like Archbishop Tutu continue to live with the consequences of how they managed the nation-building process.”

“I feel affected by the legacy of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. I live in a country where there is racial inequality. That is, Tutu, who fought against apartheid, eventually left us the legacy of the apartheid regime, ”he said.

“The world must remember that the struggle against apartheid was not a struggle for votes. It was a struggle for justice, for economic opportunities, for meaningless lost lives, and for people who were expropriated by the apartheid regime. “

However, a section of South African society remains critical of Tutu’s role as chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Founded in 1994 the outbreak of brutality committed by the white minority government from 1948 to 1991, when the apartheid laws were repealed.

The hearings ended with the departure of many leaders of the apartheid regime blanket amnesty – a historic event that has sparked controversy over how the Archbishop should be remembered today.

“Archbishop Tutu is to be remembered for denouncing apartheid and later abandoning the black majority for being part of an elitist black group to enjoy the post-CODESA material comforts of the time,” Madiba told the South African Democratic Convention, citing an umbrella. a group of nearly 100 groups negotiated the end of apartheid rule in the country.

Mixed heritage

Jason, a 29-year-old Pretoria resident, said the TRC should “do more” to bring justice to the black, colored and Indian community in South Africa, as Tutu’s heritage is “uncontaminated” by the results.

“Archbishop Tutu took a view to restoring justice, and rightly so, because the answer was that there was no bloodshed at the time,” Jason told Al Jazeera.

The tutelage is a sentiment strengthened by the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize non-violent efforts To end racial segregation and white minority rule in the African nation.

Sikhumbuzo Mgxwati, 32, is among the voices of young South Africans who are ambivalent about the recent legacy of the surviving Nobel Peace Prize winner.

“As we grew up, we nurtured the idea of ​​apartheid heroes as people who liberated blacks, but now you realize that they were assimilated into the same system that kept us oppressed, with a precarious life and no choice,” Al Jazeera said.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu chairs the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission [File: Mike Hutchings/Reuters]

Mgxwa said he would not attend the local church in honor of Tutu. He said the history of anti-apartheid activists like Tutu is “often watered down” to suit a particular narrative.

“I am saddened by the loss of his family, but I want to remember him as a colonial tool,” he said.

Mgxwatik Tutu refers to public criticism of anti-apartheid activist Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, who apologized for his role in ending the racial divide in the armed struggle at one of the TRC hearings.

However, after Winnie’s death in 2018, she was released by the Archbishop a statement in it, “in reflection, his (Winnie’s) bold challenge was very inspiring” for him and for generations of South African activists.

Lungelo Nkosi, a 27-year-old graduate student, said the country wants to focus on the good that the former archbishop has done.

“I am just sorry. He played a key role in promoting sanctions against apartheid in South Africa, “he told Al Jazeera. “After saying and doing everything, it was the real light of morality and we have to mourn.”

“Among other amazing contributions to the liberation of South Africa was the call for the transformation of the South African Rugby Union,” Nkosi said.

Melissa Bingham, 24, said she intended to send multiple messages of condolence on a government memorial page set for the former archbishop.

“His ideology was forgiveness, not perfection. He never ruled out the destruction of the bridges that were demolished everywhere, and that is why he deserves so much grace. ”