Desmond Tutu: South Africa mourns anti-apartheid hero

South Africa is holding a week of events to mark the passing of the anti-apartheid leader Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who died on Sunday aged 90.

The plans include two days of lying in state before an official state funeral on 1 January in Cape Town.

Tributes have been pouring in from leaders around the world, including Queen Elizabeth II, US President Joe Biden and Pope Francis. 

Tutu was one of the country's best known figures at home and abroad. 

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a statement that Tutu had helped bring about "a liberated South Africa". 

A contemporary of Nelson Mandela, Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his role in the struggle to abolish the apartheid system enforced by the white minority government against the black majority in South Africa from 1948-91.

South Africans of all ages and backgrounds have been going to Cape Town's St George's Cathedral to lay flowers and pay tribute to the national hero. 

Mourner Ellie Shortall said that without the role that people such as Tutu had played in South Africa's liberation struggle, her own life would have been very different. 

"I call my child a rainbow baby because we are a mixed couple. I was thinking yesterday that many years ago during apartheid we wouldn't have been able to love each other, marry and have a baby," she told the local Times Live news site.

"We would have done it in secrecy or would like to  never have had an opportunity to fall in love."

In honour of Tutu, the bells of the cathedral, the oldest in South Africa, will be rung daily at noon local time until Friday. 

His remains will be cremated the next day and his ashes will be kept at the cathedral. 

President Biden said he was "heartbroken to learn of the passing of a true servant of God and of the people", adding that Tutu's "legacy transcends borders and will echo through the ages".

Former US President Barack Obama described Tutu as "a mentor, friend and moral compass".

In a message of condolence, Queen Elizabeth II said she remembered with fondness her meetings with him, and his great warmth and humour.

"Archbishop Tutu's loss will be felt by the people of South Africa and by so many people in Great Britain, Northern Ireland and across the Commonwealth, where he was held in such high affection and esteem."

 

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta said Tutu had "inspired a generation of African leaders who embraced his non-violent approaches in the liberation struggle".

 

The Vatican said in a statement that Pope Francis offered "heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones".

"Mindful of his service to the gospel through the promotion of racial equality and reconciliation in his native South Africa, his holiness commends his soul to the loving mercy of almighty God."

The Nelson Mandela Foundation said Tutu's "contributions to struggles against injustice, locally and globally, are matched only by the depth of his thinking about the making of liberatory futures for human societies". 

"He was an extraordinary human being. A thinker. A leader. A shepherd."

Tutu's death comes just weeks after that of South Africa's last apartheid-era president, FW de Klerk, who died at the age of 85.