ADITI HUNMA
Senior lecturer, University of Cape Town
On 26 December 2021, the world lost one of its stalwarts of peace. The Archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu (1931 – 2021) will be remembered for his relentless efforts to address the enduring inequality in South Africa, largely a scourge of centuries of colonisation and the unimaginable injustices of Apartheid from 1948 to 1993.
When I met Archbishop Tutu in 2011 as a student at the University of Cape Town, I asked him what his message for the youth was. He responded with beaming eyes, ‘Dream, believe in your dreams and make them happen. For goodness’ sake, give yourself a chance’.
I wondered what kept the torch of hope burning when crimes against humanity were being committed daily since 1948 in South Africa. Ironically, 1948 was the year when the world welcomed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Faced with this grim contrast, what kept Archbishop Tutu hopeful that the wrongs of Apartheid would end one day? When I interact with South Africans at present, some admit that they never thought that Apartheid could be dismantled in their lifetime. But it happened. And that was just the beginning of an ongoing strife to address the mess that Apartheid had left in its stride.
Here are just a few excerpts of Archbishop’s thoughts from 1984 onward.
Desmond Tutu’s commitment to justice and peace
In December 1984, when Archbishop Tutu delivered his Nobel Peace Prize lecture, he shared the evils of the apartheid regime, which he further compared to Nazism.
‘I come from a beautiful land, richly endowed by God with wonderful natural resources, wide expanses, rolling mountains, singing birds, bright shining stars out of blue skies, with radiant sunshine and golden sunshine. There is enough of the good things that come from God’s bounty, there is enough for everyone, but apartheid has confirmed some in their selfishness, causing them to grasp greedily a disproportionate share, the lion’s share, because of their power’.
He cautioned that, ‘in dehumanising others, they are themselves dehumanised’. He described the notorious Bantu education as ‘education for serfdom’, and commented on the ludicrous acts such as the ‘immorality act’ forbidding relationships across racial lines, the forceful removals that displaced ‘3,000,000 of God’s children’, and the banning of revolutionaries until they became ‘non-persons’. It was against this unjust system that the people protested using ‘petitions, demonstrations, deputations, and even a passive resistance campaign’ reminding us of the peaceful protests of Gandhi and Martin Luther King. At the core, Tutu saw a hollowing out of justice. ‘There is no peace because there is no justice’.
With the dismantling of the apartheid regime in 1994, came an attempt at restoring justice through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, headed by Desmond Tutu. It brought together the victims and the perpetrators, to facilitate a process of confession, remorse and forgiveness. It operated on the principle that, “To forgive is not just to be altruistic, it is the best form of self-interest” for “one who forgives becomes a better person than the one being consumed by anger and hatred. If you can find it in yourself to forgive then you are no longer chained by the perpetrator”. Given the painful legacy of systematic oppression during the apartheid regime, and present challenges, reparation is yet to be fully achieved.
2011 – A luta continua
At a public event in 2011 on ‘civic responsibility in our troubled times’, Archbishop Tutu asked,
‘You know what we dreamt? We didn’t dream of changing the complexion of people sitting in the offices. We believed that we could create a society that was caring, where each one of us counted. But if you sit here and you think that in this country, with all the resources that we have, people actually go to bed hungry… How? Why, why, why did we struggle? How can one buy a car, as a public servant, a car worth just over a million, when you know that there are people living in poverty’.
He noted with dismay that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) has failed, that ‘we are wounded’ by Apartheid. This was followed by animated discussion about the Archbishop’s suggestion in 2011 of a wealth tax for white South Africans as beneficiaries of Apartheid. Through this tax, he hoped that ‘my sisters and brothers who are not black would get a chance to show they care’.
2019 – Restoring citizen trust
At Archbishop Tutu’s 88th birthday celebrations at the City Hall of Cape Town on 7 October 2019, several dignitaries were invited to reflect on ‘restoring citizen trust locally and globally’. There, Archbishop Tutu was described by then Cape Town PR Councillor, Dr Zahid Badroodien as a hero who ‘personifies courage’ and who inspires us to use ‘our differences as a unifier’.
The theme that evening suggested that citizens were somehow disillusioned, that their dreams for a better future needed salvaging. This was echoed in the prayers by religious leaders from the Cape Town Inter-faith Initiative. Rabbi Dr Azila Reisenberger stated in a sober tone, ‘this is the time to repent and start afresh and commit ourselves to a better future’. Chairperson, Berry Behr prayed, ‘You have heard the cry of our heart […] for the voice of wisdom to come through. We thank you for the opportunity to amplify the voice of compassion and love’. Rashied Omar, Imam of the Claremont Mosque observed, ‘We find ourselves in stressing times, for those who are voiceless and relegated to the fringes of society. None of us can be truly free while the others are being oppressed’. MaDlamini from the Traditional African Faith prayed that God ‘guide our leaders in everything they do. We must not do as we please, but as You please’.
Archbishop Tutu’s legacy
Focusing on Archbishop Tutu’s legacy, the annual Peace Lecture that evening was offered by Strive Masiyiwa, the Founder and Chairman of a telecommunications company Econet Group, as well as a philanthropist. He spoke of rampant corruption, a bane of our times, and described it a breach of trust, justice and peace. For Mr Masiyiwa, ‘corruption has no colour or religion, both the giver and receiver are corrupt’. He added that the African continent has the world’s youngest population with a mean age of 19, and an unfortunate crisis of youth unemployment. He called for an ‘entrepreneurial revolution’, and changing people’s mindsets so that they can embrace ethical business practices. Archbishop Thabo Magkoba likened corruption to ‘stealing from the poor’.
The Chairperson of the Desmond and Leah Tutu Foundation, Niclas Kjellström-Matseke extended this view stating that ‘Compassion and money are not mutually exclusive. Business and human rights are not incompatible’. In an interview with me, he shared details of a training programme ‘Youth at work’ to prepare the youth from all sectors of society to become employable but also to start their own businesses in ethical ways. The CEO, Piyushi Kotecha hoped to secure partnerships locally and globally to take Archbishop Tutu’s legacy forward.
For Niclas Kjellström-Matseke, the legacy is not about wallowing in nostalgia or building a shrine, but about ‘showing remembrance and inspiring the future generations’, particularly in light of the new challenges that make justice and peace a moving goalpost.
As we remember and salute this stalwart of peace today, we reflect on how collectively, we can carry the torch of hope, honour Archbishop Tutu’s thoughts, dreams and values to confront the shadows of inequality that persist, and the emerging issues of the 21st century.