Siyavuya Mzantsi and Raphael Wolf
THE law could be a healing and transformative force, but the rule of law had to be respected for that to happen, Public Protector Thuli Mandonsela said last night.
She was speaking at the fifth International Desmond Tutu Peace Lecture at UWC, which formed part of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu’s 84th birthday celebrations.
Tutu received a rousing welcome at UWC in his first public appearance since he took ill a few months ago.
She said that law could be a force that fostered peace in a democratic society and global community by promoting more social justice, human solidarity and accountability.
“But there are certain conditions that must prevail for law to be a healing and transformative force, and one of those conditions is the rule of law,” she said.
Mandonsela’s lecture was briefly disrupted after a group of people wearing T-shirts with the words Black Land First printed on them stormed the hall and started chanting before they were manhandled and taken out by security.
Madonsela said she was “deeply encouraged” that the room was full of young and old people from diverse human backgrounds.
Madonsela said: “On my first direct contact with the Arch, he unintentionally gave us a practical lesson in servant leadership.
“It was in the early 1990s in his office where a Swedish colleague, Allan Gustavson, and I interviewed him about the impact of European Union funding on Human Rights during the apartheid years.
Tutu’s daughter Mpho Tutu said the annual lecture was a vital element of the The Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation’s mission to translate into action the vision and values that her parents have espoused.
Tutu started off his birthday celebrations yesterday morning with a special family Eucharist at his Cape Town home followed by his grandchildren presenting him with a birthday cake.
President Jacob Zuma and former president FW de Klerk also sent the Arch their birthday wishes.
Zuma praised Tutu as a tireless and visible ambassador who had represented South Africa for decades all over the world, and commended the Arch for promoting human rights and justice.
“He continues to be a beacon of hope, who is highly regarded by the South African people. I would like to wish the Archbishop Emeritus a happy 84th birthday today, and may his health continue to improve,” said Zuma.
De Klerk wished the Archbishop “good health and happiness in the year ahead” and acknowledged the invaluable role he had played and continued to play in South Africa’s non-racial constitutional democracy.
UWC rector and vice-chancellor Tyrone Pretorius wished Tutu good health and many more years to come.