(Cape Town) Prayers were said by religious Christians, Buddhists, Jews, Muslims and traditional Africans: relatives of Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who died Sunday, attended a tribute to the figure on Wednesday evening in Cape Town of the anti-apartheid struggle.
Several members of the family of Bishop Tutu, who died peacefully at the age of 90, as well as politicians and members of the public came dressed in purple to the interfaith ceremony organized by the City, in homage to the color of the Archbishop’s robes.
During the ceremony looking like a big show with microphones and lights, the song Paradise road (The road to paradise), which in the 1980s became one of the anthems of the anti-apartheid struggle, was performed on stage.
Members of the Khoï San people, the first inhabitants of the southern tip of the African continent, dressed in skins and brandishing an animal skull, also paid tribute to the indefatigable slayer of the racist regime.
A representative of the ANC, the historic ruling party of which the prelate was always suspicious and with whom he had bad relations, declared: “Tata (nickname of Desmond Tutu), we will take over”, referring to his fight for freedom.
Desmond Tutu’s funeral is scheduled for Saturday at St. George’s Cathedral in Cape Town. The public will be able to meditate in front of his remains from Thursday. Only around 100 people will be able to participate in the ceremony due to COVID-19.
After a private cremation, his ashes will be buried in his former parish which since Monday rings the bells every day at midday, for ten minutes, in his memory.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner had retired from public life in recent months, weakened by the weight of years and cancer. After the advent of democracy in 1994 and the election of his friend Nelson Mandela, he coined the term “Rainbow Nation”.