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The Reverend Mpho Tutu said that while the debacle over the Dalai Lamas visa was sad for her father, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, the huge sadness is over our country. Photo: Brenton Geach
The fiasco over the Dalai Lama’s visa was “unuttterably sad”, Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s daughter, Reverend Mpho Tutu, said on Wednesday.
Mpho Tutu told the Cape Times that she felt deep sadness when she sat beside her father at the press conference at which he lashed out at the ANC government this week.
The moment made her look back to the past few decades of the country’s history. “I think we have all carried a dream for South Africa. We have been so proud of what we have accomplished. We changed the world (with the end of apartheid),” said Mpho Tutu, who is the founding director of the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation.
“We underlined the importance of some core values and we upheld them. We have had a shining moment that really belonged to all of us as South Africans. The decision to negotiate an end to apartheid felt like a very South African way of doing things. The whole world also felt they owned a part of our victory.
“For a long time, we were different. In our living memory we have walked out of great darkness and into shining light. But who are we becoming?” she asked.
We are “clawing our way back into darkness”, said Mpho Tutu, who relocated from the US to South Africa a few months ago to continue and safeguard her father’s legacy with the foundation.
While she was sad for her father that his friend the Dalai Lama – both are Nobel Laureates – would no longer be able to celebrate his birthday with him, “the huge sadness is over our country”, she said.
Growing angry when asked about Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe’s comments that the government would have given the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader a visa if he hadn’t cancelled his visit, she said: “Don’t give us that nonsense. This is a world figure. It is compounding disrespect with disrespect.
“The government could have issued a visa 10 weeks ago, five weeks ago, 10 days ago. What’s the hold-up? Why hold us on a string, like a teenager asking for a date?”
Describing the government’s responses about the process involved in the Dalai Lama’s visa over the past few weeks as “juvenile”, Mpho Tutu said it could have managed the process better.
She said it would have been better if it had been forthright from the start and just said no. “But to dangle us on a string is out. I think we hoped for better from our government”.
She said the cancellation of the Dalai Lama’s trip had caused major disruption to plans for the weekend, which included a birthday party tomorrow and an inaugural Desmond Tutu International Peace Lecture on Saturday.
In a scathing attack, Archbishop Tutu told a press conference on Tuesday that the government did not represent him.
“Hey Mr Zuma, you represent your own interests,” he said. - Cape Times
• See Q&A with Mpho Tutu and also a 12-page special supplement on Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu on his 80th birthday in Friday’s Cape Times.
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Anonymous, wrote
Husbands, raping their wives and chopping them up, girls dragged off the beach and raped.......and Tutu is going on about his birthday! This definitely is “unuttterably sad”.
Naija, wrote
Has this become a family business now.. just curious
Kay, wrote
The book of LUKE: 14:12 He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you host a dinner or a banquet, don’t invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors so you can be invited by them in return and get repaid. 14:13 But when you host an elaborate meal, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14:14 Then you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
Anonymous, wrote
The Tutus are making this a national issue where as it is just a birthday party for the arch. I have a great for him but he must not throw tauntrums as if he is only the one who can pray.
CD, wrote
correction madam there is nothing that the anc would like more that s.a to turn into their hero's robert mugabe zimbabwe .they were handed this country on a platter when s.a was stronger that most 1st world countries but because of their greed we going back to hell !!!
Anonymous, wrote
The Tutus are making this a national issue where as it is just a birthday party for the arch. I have a great for him but he must not throw tauntrums as if he is only the one who can pray.
Anonymous, wrote
The Tutus are making this a national issue where as it is just a birthday party for the arch. I have a great for him but he must not throw tauntrums as if he is only the one who can pray.
Anonymous, wrote
Who elected these people and their fairytale Gods? Please, they must go away now. Or keep praying for change and doing nothing.
Anonymous, wrote
Just because DL can not come for his birthday party? I do not think these two should be linked together.
Juan, wrote
Zuma and his little buddies do not care. They make too much money and zuma is guaranteed a massive salary for the rest of his life. Givern the fact that they have no pride or dignity, they will just wait for this to all blow over and count their chinese kickbacks while millions continue to suffer in poverty.
Back to the struggle, wrote
We all battled to change things for what we thought was "the better". In my memory there are some defining moments in our journey - The pass law protests, 1976, the ousting of Die Groot Krokodil, FW De Klerk's speech, the defeat of the AWB in Bop, Madiba's retirement, the dropping of the investigation into Cmde Jacob, the mooting of the new information bill and now this. Looking at the trend, Ms. Tutu is - sadly - spot on...we have hit our highs and the lows seem to keep coming. All we can hope for is that the straight talk from Bishop Tutu hits home in the hearts of enough people to mark a point-change in support patterns that will shock the collective ineptness at the next election. In the meantime, although I never thought I would see the day, I think it is the right thing to do to invoke your deity's influence over the affairs of our people because the influence of our once proud movement is only to their individual bank balances and not the welfare of all who live in the land as per the freedom charter so many died to uphold. Truly - an eye-opening (and sad) moment for all who have the eys to see...
Johan, wrote
There is still time to consider Luke 14:12-14, Reverend!
smart azz, wrote
Tell them! I am glad that we are sad! and we are so sad we are getting mad! Let the world know!
SHARLENE, wrote
ABSOLUTELY CORRECT. WE ARE GOING BACK INTO THE DARKNESS. WOMEN ARE BEING RAPED. GIRLS ARE BEING RAPED. BOYS ARE BEING RAPED. SOUTH AFRICANS ARE TURNING ON EACH OTHER. THE BEACON OF LIGHT THAT SHINED.....HAS BEEN DIMMING AND DIMMING FOR QUITE SOME TIME. ITS A SHAME THAT THE LEGACY LEFT BY THE OLD ANC STALWARTS....IS NO MORE. SHAME ON YOU SOUTH AFRICA !!! SHAME ON YOU
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