The body of the late Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu arrived – as per his wishes – in a simple pine coffin at St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town on Thursday, where his body will lie in state for the two days.
Several roads around the cathedral were closed as his cortege snaked its way from Hertzog Boulevard towards Adderley Street into Wale Street.
Tutu’s family were the first to pay their respects to him after his body was moved into the church.
Tutu died in Cape Town on Sunday.
Hundreds of South Africans are expected to pay their respects to him in the coming days as his body lies in state.
The Archbishop Tutu IP Trust and the Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation said the Archbishop was very clear on his wishes for his funeral.
“He wanted no ostentatiousness or lavish spending. He asked that the coffin be the cheapest available and that a bouquet of carnations from his family be the only flowers in the cathedral," the two organisations said in a statement.
Tutu will be cremated privately, and his ashes interred in the cathedral.
IOL