Cape Town - After a week of prayers and well wishes, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu returned home on Tuesday.
Tutu spent a week in hospital for a persistent infection that was treated by intravenous antibiotics.
His daughter, Reverend Canon Mpho, said last week that he had difficulty with the oral antibiotics and was required to spend time at hospital for optimal treatment.
In a statement the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation said he had arrived home on Tuesday morning.
Mpho said her father’s medical team prescribed plenty of rest for him.
“They have been fantastic and we’ll be doing our best not to disappoint them.”
He was treated by a team of “world class” doctors and seemed his usual cheerful self in pictures he posed for at home.
Arriving in a dressing gown with the words “Feet Up, Arch” embroidered on the back he smiled for pictures with his daughter, wife and son-in-law.
Tutu is regarded as one of South Africa’s most liberal and outspoken leaders, and chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission aimed at addressing the wrongs of apartheid while serving as a vehicle of forgiveness.
He smiled as his daughter, Mpho, pulled a funny face in a picture, while he stood next to his son-in-law and aide Muthunzi Gxashe. In another picture he cuddles with his wife, Leah, on a couch.
In the statement Tutu thanked his doctors, saying he looked forward to spending quality time with his wife and watching the cricket between Bangladesh and South Africa.
The family was grateful for the love and support they received from various South Africans and people abroad, Mpho added.
Tutu was admitted to a Cape Town hospital last Tuesday to treat an infection that his daughter described as “below the belt”.
She said it was not his prostate.
Tutu has been living with prostate cancer for 15 years and his doctors said they had not found any new malignant tumours.
The news of the 83-year-old falling ill made international headlines with many people using social media to wish him well.
On Facebook on Tuesday some still wished him good health as they commented on the pictures of him at home.
Isabel Potgieter said: “Great news. Get better soon, Arch,” while Glynis Rozendo said, “Thank the Lord and I hope the Arch listens to the doctors’ advice.”
Louise Wilken shared a Bible verse from Jeremiah 30: 17 which read: “For I will restore health to you and heal you of your wounds, says the Lord.”
Cape Argus