The Soweto Civic Association was an organisation formed in Soweto , South Africa , in 1979, formed out of what was known as the "Committee of Ten", by black professionals who wished to administer the city's affairs by themselves and not by an Apartheid representative local administration board officials and councillors.
126-572: After the Soweto uprising in 1976, the existing Soweto Urban Bantu Council collapsed. After a suggestion was made in the World newspaper that prominent Sowetan people form a local government to run Soweto, a meeting was held in June 1977. Three hundred people met and a Committee of Ten was formed under the chairmanship of Dr Nthato Motlana with the rest made up of professionals, teachers and churchmen. Its initial name
252-494: A South African and thought Tutu would be a less controversial choice than Mandela or Mangosuthu Buthelezi . In December, he attended the award ceremony in Oslo —which was hampered by a bomb scare—before returning home via Sweden, Denmark, Canada, Tanzania, and Zambia. He shared the US$ 192,000 prize money with his family, SACC staff, and a scholarship fund for South Africans in exile. He was
378-489: A ceremony at Maseru 's Cathedral of St Mary and St James; thousands attended, including King Moshoeshoe II and Prime Minister Leabua Jonathan . Travelling through the largely rural diocese, Tutu learned Sesotho . He appointed Philip Mokuku as the first dean of the diocese and placed great emphasis on further education for the Basotho clergy. He befriended the royal family although his relationship with Jonathan's government
504-468: A church memorial for those protesters who had been killed in clashes with the security forces. He organised a protest march through Cape Town for later that month, which the new President F. W. de Klerk agreed to permit; a multi-racial crowd containing an estimated 30,000 people took part. That the march had been permitted inspired similar demonstrations to take place across the country. In October, de Klerk met with Tutu, Boesak, and Frank Chikane ; Tutu
630-1003: A collection of his sermons and speeches, Crying in the Wilderness: The Struggle for Justice in South Africa ; another volume, Hope and Suffering , appeared in 1984. Tutu testified on behalf of a captured cell of Umkhonto we Sizwe , an armed anti-apartheid group linked to the banned African National Congress (ANC). He stated that although he was committed to non-violence and censured all who used violence, he could understand why black Africans became violent when their non-violent tactics had failed to overturn apartheid. In an earlier address, he had opined that an armed struggle against South Africa's government had little chance of succeeding but also accused Western nations of hypocrisy for condemning armed liberation groups in southern Africa while they had praised similar organisations in Europe during
756-606: A daughter, Mpho Andrea Tutu , was born in 1963. Tutu was academically successful and his tutors suggested that he convert to an honours degree , which entailed his also studying Hebrew . He received his degree from Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in a ceremony held at the Royal Albert Hall . Tutu then secured a TEF grant to study for a master's degree, doing so from October 1965 until September 1966, completing his dissertation on Islam in West Africa. During this period,
882-648: A discussion of the ANC's ability to channel and direct the popular anger.") The Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum opened in Soweto in 2002, not far from the spot that the 12-year-old Hector was shot on the 16 June 1976. The UN Security Council passed Resolution 392 , which strongly condemned the incident and the apartheid government. A week after the uprising began, US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger met South African State President Vorster in West Germany to discuss
1008-518: A foreign import irrelevant to Africa. In 1975, Tutu was nominated to be the new Bishop of Johannesburg , although he lost out to Timothy Bavin . Bavin suggested that Tutu take his newly vacated position, that of the dean of St Mary's Cathedral, Johannesburg. Tutu was elected to this position—the fourth highest in South Africa's Anglican hierarchy—in March 1975, becoming the first black man to do so, an appointment making headline news in South Africa. Tutu
1134-512: A friend of his sister Gloria who was studying to become a primary school teacher. They were legally married at Krugersdorp Native Commissioner's Court in June 1955, before undergoing a Roman Catholic wedding ceremony at the Church of Mary Queen of Apostles; although an Anglican, Tutu agreed to the ceremony due to Leah's Roman Catholic faith. The newlyweds lived at Tutu's parental home before renting their own six months later. Their first child, Trevor,
1260-585: A love of reading, particularly enjoying comic books and European fairy tales . In Tshing his parents had a third son, Tamsanqa, who also died in infancy. Around 1941, Tutu's mother moved to the Witwatersrand to work as a cook at Ezenzeleni Blind Institute in Johannesburg. Tutu joined her in the city, living in Roodepoort West . In Johannesburg, he attended a Methodist primary school before transferring to
1386-460: A mass funeral for a number of the victims, swept through Soweto and broke up other services being held, including one at Regina Mundi Roman Catholic, where tear gas canisters were thrown into a bus containing mourners. A service at Avalon Cemetery at which thousands were reported to have gathered was also dispersed with tear gas and armored vehicles. Tear gas was also reported to have been dropped from helicopters on processions and crowds. Images of
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#17330854491171512-557: A meeting on 13 June 1976 to discuss what should be done. Students formed an Action Committee, later known as the Soweto Students' Representative Council, which organised a mass rally for 16 June to make themselves heard. On the morning of 16 June 1976, between 3,000 and 20,000 black students walked from their schools to Orlando Stadium for a rally to protest having to learn in Afrikaans in school. Many students who later participated in
1638-428: A new South Africa – non-racial, democratic, participatory and just. This is a non-violent strategy to help us do so. There is a great deal of goodwill still in our country between the races. Let us not be so wanton in destroying it. We can live together as one people, one family, black and white together. The mid-1980s saw growing clashes between black youths and the security services; Tutu was invited to speak at many of
1764-527: A non-racial South Africa where people count because they are made in the image of God. So the SACC is neither a black nor a white organization. It is a Christian organization with a definite bias in favour of the oppressed and the exploited ones of our society. After John Rees stepped down as general secretary of the South African Council of Churches , Tutu was among the nominees for his successor. John Thorne
1890-402: A platform with anti-apartheid campaigner Winnie Mandela in opposing the government's Terrorism Act, 1967 . He held a 24-hour vigil for racial harmony at the cathedral where he prayed for activists detained under the act. In May 1976, he wrote to Prime Minister B. J. Vorster , warning that if the government maintained apartheid then the country would erupt in racial violence. Six weeks later,
2016-691: A poor family in Klerksdorp , South Africa . Entering adulthood, he trained as a teacher and married Nomalizo Leah Tutu , with whom he had several children. In 1960, he was ordained as an Anglican priest and in 1962 moved to the United Kingdom to study theology at King's College London . In 1966 he returned to southern Africa, teaching at the Federal Theological Seminary and then the University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland . In 1972, he became
2142-462: A racially equal, de-segregated future was possible for South Africa. He encountered some resistance to his attempts to modernise the liturgies used by the congregation, including his attempts to replace masculine pronouns with gender neutral ones. Tutu used his position to speak out on social issues, publicly endorsing an international economic boycott of South Africa over apartheid. He met with Black Consciousness and Soweto leaders, and shared
2268-487: A record low. In July 1985, Botha declared a state of emergency in 36 magisterial districts, suspending civil liberties and giving the security services additional powers; he rebuffed Tutu's offer to serve as a go-between for the government and leading black organisations. Tutu continued protesting; in April 1985, he led a small march of clergy through Johannesburg to protest the arrest of Geoff Moselane. In October 1985, he backed
2394-403: A resident telephoned a reporter to say, "The police are shooting left and right. They just shot an old man. They are shooting at everyone, everything". The UDF leader Frank Chikane described the police actions "as if entering enemy territory, with guns blazing." Minister of Information Louis Nel later came under fire for stating at a press conference, "Let there be no misunderstanding regarding
2520-415: A school rugby team, he developed a lifelong love of the sport. Outside of school, he earned money selling oranges and as a caddie for white golfers . To avoid the expense of a daily train commute to school, he briefly lived with family nearer to Johannesburg, before moving back in with his parents when they relocated to Munsieville . He then returned to Johannesburg, moving into an Anglican hostel near
2646-503: A sit-in protest over the university administration's policies; after they were surrounded by police with dogs , Tutu waded into the crowd to pray with the protesters. This was the first time that he had witnessed state power used to suppress dissent. In January 1970, Tutu left the seminary for a teaching post at the University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland (UBLS) in Roma, Lesotho . This brought him closer to his children and offered twice
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#17330854491172772-535: A surge of recruits joined. Many white South Africans were outraged at the government's actions in Soweto. The day after the massacre, about 400 white students from the University of the Witwatersrand marched through Johannesburg's city centre in protest of the killing of children. Black workers went on strike as well and joined them as the campaign progressed. Riots also broke out in the black townships of other cities in South Africa. Student organisations directed
2898-654: A teacher training institution, in 1951. There, he served as treasurer of the Student Representative Council, helped to organise the Literacy and Dramatic Society, and chaired the Cultural and Debating Society. During one debating event he met the lawyer—and future president of South Africa— Nelson Mandela ; they would not encounter each other again until 1990. At the college, Tutu attained his Transvaal Bantu Teachers Diploma, having gained advice about taking exams from
3024-922: A three-month sabbatical at the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church in New York. In the city, he was invited to address the United Nations Security Council , later meeting the Congressional Black Caucus and the subcommittees on Africa in the House of Representatives and the Senate . He was also invited to the White House , where he unsuccessfully urged President Ronald Reagan to change his approach to South Africa. He
3150-432: Is an engaged not an academic, detached theology. It is a gut level theology, relating to the real concerns, the life and death issues of the black man." He stated that his paper was not an attempt to demonstrate the academic respectability of black theology but rather to make "a straightforward, perhaps shrill, statement about an existent. Black theology is. No permission is being requested for it to come into being... Frankly
3276-468: Is for you, fathers, sitting in a single-sex hostel, separated from your children for 11 months a year... This award is for you, mothers in the KTC squatter camp, whose shelters are destroyed callously every day, and who sit on soaking mattresses in the winter rain, holding whimpering babies... This award is for you, the 3.5 million of our people who have been uprooted and dumped as if you were rubbish. This award
3402-556: Is for you. By the 1980s, Tutu was an icon for many black South Africans, a status rivalled only by Mandela. In August 1983, he became a patron of the new anti-apartheid United Democratic Front (UDF). Tutu angered much of South Africa's press and white minority, especially apartheid supporters. Pro-government media like The Citizen and the South African Broadcasting Corporation criticised him, often focusing on how his middle-class lifestyle contrasted with
3528-607: Is racism in England, but we were not exposed to it". He was also impressed by the freedom of speech in the country, especially at Speakers' Corner in London's Hyde Park . The family moved into the curate's flat behind the Church of St Alban the Martyr in Golders Green , where Tutu assisted Sunday services, the first time that he had ministered to a white congregation. It was in the flat that
3654-489: Is to ask on whose side is God; it is to be concerned about the humanisation of man, because those who ravage our humanity dehumanise themselves in the process; [it says] that the liberation of the black man is the other side of the liberation of the white man—so it is concerned with human liberation. Tutu accepted TEF's offer of a job as their director for Africa, a position based in England. South Africa's government initially refused permission, regarding him with suspicion since
3780-503: The 1994 general election resulted in a coalition government headed by Mandela, the latter selected Tutu to chair the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate past human rights abuses committed by both pro and anti-apartheid groups. Following apartheid's fall, Tutu campaigned for gay rights and spoke out on a wide range of subjects, among them his criticism of South African presidents Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma , his opposition to
3906-590: The BBC Sound Archive that charted the long struggle against apartheid from the Sharpeville massacre of 1960 to the riots of 1976 and the murder of Steve Biko until Mandela's release from prison in 1990 and the future president's speech in which he acknowledged the debt owed by all black South Africans to the students who had given their lives in Soweto on 16 June 1976. Desmond Tutu Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 1931 – 26 December 2021)
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4032-747: The Episcopal Church in New Orleans before traveling to Kentucky to see his daughter Naomi, who lived there with her American husband. Tutu gained a popular following in the US, where he was often compared to civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. , although white conservatives like Pat Buchanan and Jerry Falwell lambasted him as an alleged communist sympathiser. This award is for mothers, who sit at railway stations to try to eke out an existence, selling potatoes, selling mealies, selling produce. This award
4158-551: The National Party government that anger at apartheid would lead to racial violence, as an activist he stressed non-violent protest and foreign economic pressure to bring about universal suffrage . In 1985, Tutu became Bishop of Johannesburg and in 1986 the Archbishop of Cape Town, the most senior position in southern Africa's Anglican hierarchy. In this position, he emphasised a consensus-building model of leadership and oversaw
4284-585: The Nobel Peace Prize and other international awards. He also compiled several books of his speeches and sermons. Desmond Mpilo Tutu was born on 7 October 1931 in Klerksdorp , Transvaal , South Africa. His mother, Allen Dorothea Mavoertsek Mathlare, was born to a Motswana family in Boksburg . His father, Zachariah Zelilo Tutu, was from the amaFengu branch of Xhosa and grew up in Gcuwa , Eastern Cape. At home,
4410-533: The Second World War . Tutu also signed a petition calling for the release of ANC activist Nelson Mandela, leading to a correspondence between the pair. After Tutu told journalists that he supported an international economic boycott of South Africa, he was reprimanded before government ministers in October 1979. In March 1980, the government confiscated his passport; this raised his international profile. In 1980,
4536-533: The Sharpeville massacre of 1960. Tutu and the other trainees did not engage in anti-apartheid campaigns; he later noted that they were "in some ways a very apolitical bunch". In December 1960, Edward Paget ordained Tutu as an Anglican priest at St Mary's Cathedral . Tutu was then appointed assistant curate in St Alban's Parish, Benoni , where he was reunited with his wife and children, and earned two-thirds of what his white counterparts were given. In 1962, Tutu
4662-450: The Soweto uprising broke out as black youth clashed with police. Over the course of ten months, at least 660 were killed, most under the age of 24. Tutu was upset by what he regarded as the lack of outrage from white South Africans ; he raised the issue in his Sunday sermon, stating that the white silence was "deafening" and asking if they would have shown the same nonchalance had white youths been killed. After seven months as dean, Tutu
4788-668: The UN Special Committee Against Apartheid . In England, he met Robert Runcie and gave a sermon in Westminster Abbey , while in Rome he met Pope John Paul II . On his return to South Africa, Botha again ordered Tutu's passport confiscated, preventing him from personally collecting several further honorary degrees. It was returned 17 months later. In September 1982 Tutu addressed the Triennial Convention of
4914-755: The United Nations General Assembly , urging the international community to impose sanctions on South Africa if apartheid was not dismantled within six months. Proceeding to the United Kingdom, he met with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher . He also formed a Bishop Tutu Scholarship Fund to financially assist South African students living in exile. He returned to the US in May 1986, and in August 1986 visited Japan, China, and Jamaica to promote sanctions. Given that most senior anti-apartheid activists were imprisoned, Mandela referred to Tutu as "public enemy number one for
5040-411: The University of Kent , General Theological Seminary, and Harvard University . As head of the SACC, Tutu's time was dominated by fundraising for the organisation's projects. Under Tutu's tenure, it was revealed that one of the SACC's divisional directors had been stealing funds. In 1981 a government commission launched to investigate the issue, headed by the judge C. F. Eloff . Tutu gave evidence to
5166-479: The introduction of female priests . Also in 1986, he became president of the All Africa Conference of Churches , resulting in further tours of the continent. After President F. W. de Klerk released the anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela from prison in 1990 and the pair led negotiations to end apartheid and introduce multi-racial democracy, Tutu assisted as a mediator between rival black factions. After
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5292-539: The 1998 Media Awards of the One World International Broadcasting Trust and was highly commended at the 1998 Prix Italia radio awards. In May 1999, it was rebroadcast by BBC Radio 4 as The Death of Apartheid with a fresh introduction that provided added historical context for a British audience by Anthony Sampson , a former editor of Drum magazine and the author of the authorised biography (1999) of Nelson Mandela. Sampson linked extracts from
5418-645: The Act, Tutu and his wife left the teaching profession. With Huddleston's support, Tutu chose to become an Anglican priest. In January 1956, his request to join the Ordinands Guild was turned down due to his debts; these were then paid off by the wealthy industrialist Harry Oppenheimer . Tutu was admitted to St Peter's Theological College in Rosettenville , Johannesburg, which was run by the Anglican Community of
5544-635: The African Child (DAC) . Black South African high school students in Soweto protested against the Afrikaans Medium Decree of 1974, which forced all black schools to use Afrikaans and English in equal terms as languages of instruction. The association of Afrikaans with apartheid prompted black South Africans to prefer English. Even the Bantustan regimes chose English and an indigenous African language as official languages. In addition, English
5670-472: The Afrikaans Medium Decree. English would be the medium of instruction for general science and practical subjects (homecraft, needlework, woodwork, metalwork, art, agricultural science). Indigenous languages would be used only for religious instruction, music, and physical culture. The decree was resented deeply by the black population. Desmond Tutu , the bishop of Lesotho , stated that Afrikaans
5796-527: The American, British, and German governments urging them to pressure Botha on the issue, and personally met with Botha at the latter's Tuynhuys home to discuss the issue. The two did not get on well, and argued. Botha accused Tutu of supporting the ANC's armed campaign; Tutu said that while he did not support their use of violence, he supported the ANC's objective of a non-racial, democratic South Africa. The death sentences were ultimately commuted. In May 1988,
5922-650: The Church Unity Commission, served as a delegate at Anglican-Catholic conversations, and began publishing in academic journals . He also became the Anglican chaplain to the neighbouring University of Fort Hare ; in an unusual move for the time, Tutu invited female as well as male students to become servers during the Eucharist . He joined student delegations to meetings of the Anglican Students' Federation and
6048-611: The Church of Christ the King in Sophiatown . He became a server at the church and came under the influence of its priest, Trevor Huddleston ; later biographer Shirley du Boulay suggested that Huddleston was "the greatest single influence" in Tutu's life. In 1947, Tutu contracted tuberculosis and was hospitalised in Rietfontein for 18 months, during which he was regularly visited by Huddleston. In
6174-546: The Fort Hare protests, but relented after Tutu argued that his taking the role would be good publicity for South Africa. In March 1972, he returned to Britain. The TEF's headquarters were in Bromley , with the Tutu family settling in nearby Grove Park , where Tutu became honorary curate of St Augustine's Church. Tutu's job entailed assessing grants to theological training institutions and students. This required his touring Africa in
6300-540: The Institute of Christian Spirituality at Bishopscourt, with the latter moving into a building in the house's grounds. Such projects led to Tutu's ministry taking up an increasingly large portion of the Anglican church's budget, which Tutu sought to expand through requesting donations from overseas. Some Anglicans were critical of his spending. Tutu's vast workload was managed with the assistance of his executive officer Njongonkulu Ndungane and Michael Nuttall , who in 1989
6426-537: The Iraq War , and describing Israel's treatment of Palestinians as apartheid . In 2010, he retired from public life, but continued to speak out on numerous topics and events. As Tutu rose to prominence in the 1970s, different socio-economic groups and political classes held a wide range of views about him, from critical to admiring. He was popular among South Africa's black majority and was internationally praised for his work involving anti-apartheid activism, for which he won
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#17330854491176552-533: The National Initiative for Reconciliation's proposal for people to refrain from work for a day of prayer, fasting, and mourning. He also proposed a national strike against apartheid, angering trade unions whom he had not consulted beforehand. Tutu continued promoting his cause abroad. In May 1985 he embarked on a speaking tour of the United States, and in October 1985 addressed the political committee of
6678-617: The Resurrection . The college was residential, and Tutu lived there while his wife trained as a nurse in Sekhukhuneland ; their children lived with Tutu's parents in Munsieville . In August 1960, his wife gave birth to another daughter, Naomi. At the college, Tutu studied the Bible, Anglican doctrine, church history, and Christian ethics, earning a Licentiate of Theology degree, and winning
6804-430: The SACC committed itself to supporting civil disobedience against apartheid. After Thorne was arrested in May, Tutu and Joe Wing led a protest march during which they were arrested, imprisoned overnight, and fined. In the aftermath, a meeting was organised between 20 church leaders including Tutu, Prime Minister P. W. Botha , and seven government ministers. At this August meeting the clerical leaders unsuccessfully urged
6930-508: The South Africa. In the 1980, the Soweto Civic Association was involved in advocating rent boycotts, supporting general strikes and support against bus ticketing increases, as well as calling for the release of Nelson Mandela . Soweto uprising The Soweto uprising , also known as the Soweto riots , was a series of demonstrations and protests led by black school children in South Africa during apartheid that began on
7056-478: The Soweto Civic Association was formed and its executive made of the Committee of Ten. By late 1979, the Soweto Civic Association was advocating for a Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Board which would include existing Black, Indian and Coloured townships as the revenue required to run a city like Soweto was not sufficient. But by 1980, it was advocating non-negotiation until non-whites were involved in free elections in
7182-434: The Swedish Boarding School (SBS) in the St Agnes Mission . Several months later, he moved with his father to Ermelo , eastern Transvaal . After six months, the duo returned to Roodepoort West, where Tutu resumed his studies at SBS. Aged 12, he underwent confirmation at St Mary's Church, Roodepoort. Tutu entered the Johannesburg Bantu High School ( Madibane High School ) in 1945, where he excelled academically. Joining
7308-515: The Theological Education Fund's director for Africa, a position based in London but necessitating regular tours of the African continent. Back in southern Africa in 1975, he served first as dean of St Mary's Cathedral in Johannesburg and then as Bishop of Lesotho ; from 1978 to 1985 he was general-secretary of the South African Council of Churches . He emerged as one of the most prominent opponents of South Africa's apartheid system of racial segregation and white minority rule . Although warning
7434-420: The UDF, and restricted the activities of trade unions. Church leaders organised a protest march, and after that too was banned they established the Committee for the Defense of Democracy. When the group's rally was banned, Tutu, Boesak, and Naidoo organised a service at St George's Cathedral to replace it. You have already lost! Let us say to you nicely: you have already lost! We are inviting you to come and join
7560-406: The Ulwazi Educational Radio Project of Johannesburg compiled an hour-long radio documentary 20 years after the uprising portraying the events of 16 June entirely from the perspective of people living in Soweto at the time. Many of the students who planned or joined the uprising, as well as other witnesses, took part, including the photographer Peter Magubane , the reporter Sophie Tema and Tim Wilson,
7686-431: The University Christian Movement, and was broadly supportive of the Black Consciousness Movement that emerged from South Africa's 1960s student milieu, although did not share its view on avoiding collaboration with whites. In August 1968, he gave a sermon comparing South Africa's situation with that in the Eastern Bloc , likening anti-apartheid protests to the recent Prague Spring . In September, Fort Hare students held
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#17330854491177812-417: The activist Robert Sobukwe . He had also taken five correspondence courses provided by the University of South Africa (UNISA), graduating in the same class as future Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe . In 1954, Tutu began teaching English at Madibane High School; the following year, he transferred to the Krugersdorp High School, where he taught English and history. He began courting Nomalizo Leah Shenxane,
7938-415: The archbishop's Bishopscourt residence; this was illegal as he did not have official permission to reside in what the state allocated as a "white area". He obtained money from the church to oversee renovations of the house, and had a children's playground installed in its grounds, opening this and the Bishopscourt swimming pool to members of his diocese. He invited the English priest Francis Cull to set up
8064-415: The archbishop's annual essay prize. The college's principal, Godfrey Pawson, wrote that Tutu "has exceptional knowledge and intelligence and is very industrious. At the same time, he shows no arrogance, mixes in well, and is popular ... He has obvious gifts of leadership." During his years at the college, there had been an intensification in anti-apartheid activism as well as a crackdown against it, including
8190-433: The assistant director of the Institute of Race Relations . The SACC was one of the few Christian institutions in South Africa where black people had the majority representation; Tutu was its first black leader. There, he introduced a schedule of daily staff prayers, regular Bible study, monthly Eucharist, and silent retreats. Hegr also developed a new style of leadership, appointing senior staff who were capable of taking
8316-537: The bloodshed had abated by the end of 1976, when the death toll had stood at more than 600. The continued clashes in Soweto caused economic instability. The South African rand devalued fast, and the government was plunged into a crisis. The African National Congress printed and distributed leaflets with the slogan "Free Mandela, Hang Vorster". It immediately linked the language issue to its revolutionary heritage and programme and helped to establish its leading role. (See Baruch Hirson 's "Year of Fire, Year of Ash", for
8442-404: The commission, during which he condemned apartheid as "evil" and "unchristian". When the Eloff report was published, Tutu criticised it, focusing particularly on the absence of any theologians on its board, likening it to "a group of blind men" judging the Chelsea Flower Show . In 1981 Tutu also became the rector of St Augustine's Church in Soweto's Orlando West . The following year he published
8568-587: The couple spoke the Xhosa language . Having married in Boksburg, they moved to Klerksdorp in the late 1950s, living in the city's "native location", or black residential area, since renamed Makoeteng. Zachariah worked as the principal of a Methodist primary school and the family lived in the mud-brick schoolmaster's house in the yard of the Methodist mission. The Tutus were poor; describing his family, Tutu later related that "although we weren't affluent, we were not destitute either". He had an older sister, Sylvia Funeka, who called him "Mpilo" (meaning 'life'). He
8694-472: The doctors refused to create the list. The Doctors recorded bullet wounds as abscesses . 1,500 armed police officers were deployed to Soweto on 17 June carrying weapons, including automatic rifles, stun guns, and carbines. They drove around in armoured vehicles with helicopters monitoring the area from above. The South African Army was also ordered on standby as a tactical measure to show military force. Crowd control methods used by South African police at
8820-407: The early 1970s, and he wrote accounts of his experiences. In Zaire , he for instance lamented the widespread corruption and poverty and complained that Mobutu Sese Seko 's "military regime... is extremely galling to a black from South Africa." In Nigeria, he expressed concern at Igbo resentment following the crushing of their Republic of Biafra . In 1972 he travelled around East Africa, where he
8946-578: The energy and anger of the youth toward political resistance. Students in Thembisa organised a successful and nonviolent solidarity march, but a similar protest held in Kagiso led to police stopping a group of participants, forcing them to retreat, and killing at least five people while reinforcements were awaited. The violence died down only on 18 June. The University of Zululand 's records and administration buildings were set ablaze, and 33 people died in incidents in Port Elizabeth in August. In Cape Town , 92 people died between August and September. Most of
9072-903: The family moved to Bletchingley in Surrey, where Tutu worked as the assistant curate of St Mary's Church. In the village, he encouraged cooperation between his Anglican parishioners and the local Roman Catholic and Methodist communities. Tutu's time in London helped him to jettison any bitterness to whites and feelings of racial inferiority; he overcame his habit of automatically deferring to whites. In 1966, Tutu and his family moved to East Jerusalem , where he studied Arabic and Greek for two months at St George's College . They then returned to South Africa, settling in Alice, Eastern Cape , in 1967. The Federal Theological Seminary (Fedsem) had recently been established there as an amalgamation of training institutions from different Christian denominations. At Fedsem, Tutu
9198-432: The figure to 12. The South African Information Bureau claimed that police opened fire on two occasions, one after a grenade had been tossed at police and wounded four policemen. Residents said that the fighting started when local officials sought to evict tenants who had been refusing to pay their rents for two months as part of a mass boycott. Security forces were said to have initially used tear gas to disperse crowds. Later,
9324-425: The funerals of those youths killed. At a Duduza funeral, he intervened to stop the crowd from killing a black man accused of being a government informant. Tutu angered some black South Africans by speaking against the torture and killing of suspected collaborators. For these militants, Tutu's calls for non-violence were perceived as an obstacle to revolution. When Tutu accompanied the US politician Ted Kennedy on
9450-530: The government and legitimise the Apartheid policies. When the Committee of Ten organised protests against these councils being formed, the committee was arrested and detained. Elections for the Soweto Community Council were then announced for February 1978 but the detention of the Committee lead to a boycott of the elections by the people of Soweto. The Committee members were eventually released. In 1979,
9576-752: The government launched a covert campaign against Tutu, organised in part by the Stratkom wing of the State Security Council . The security police printed leaflets and stickers with anti-Tutu slogans while unemployed blacks were paid to protest when he arrived at the airport. Traffic police briefly imprisoned Leah when she was late to renew her motor vehicle license. Although the security police organised assassination attempts on various anti-apartheid Christian leaders, they later claimed to have never done so for Tutu, deeming him too high-profile. Tutu remained actively involved in acts of civil disobedience against
9702-543: The government to end apartheid. Although some clergy saw this dialogue as pointless, Tutu disagreed, commenting: " Moses went to Pharaoh repeatedly to secure the release of the Israelites." In January 1981, the government returned Tutu's passport. In March, he embarked on a five-week tour of Europe and North America, meeting politicians including the UN Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim , and addressing
9828-499: The government; he was encouraged by the fact that many whites also took part in these protests. In August 1989 he helped to organise an "Ecumenical Defiance Service" at St George's Cathedral, and shortly after joined protests at segregated beaches outside Cape Town. To mark the sixth anniversary of the UDF's foundation he held a "service of witness" at the cathedral, and in September organised
9954-439: The hospital, he underwent circumcision to mark his transition to manhood. He returned to school in 1949 and took his national exams in late 1950, gaining a second-class pass. Although Tutu secured admission to study medicine at the University of the Witwatersrand , his parents could not afford the tuition fees. Instead, he turned toward teaching, gaining a government scholarship for a course at Pretoria Bantu Normal College ,
10080-453: The initiative, delegating much of the SACC's detailed work to them, and keeping in touch with them through meetings and memorandums. Many of his staff referred to him as "Baba" (father). He was determined that the SACC become one of South Africa's most visible human rights advocacy organisations. His efforts gained him international recognition; the closing years of the 1970s saw him elected a fellow of KCL and receive honorary doctorates from
10206-467: The latter's death in February 1971. Black theology seeks to make sense of the life experience of the black man, which is largely black suffering at the hands of rampant white racism, and to understand this in the light of what God has said about himself, about man, and about the world in his very definite Word... Black theology has to do with whether it is possible to be black and continue to be Christian; it
10332-575: The latter's visit to South Africa in January 1985, he was angered that protesters from the Azanian People's Organisation (AZAPO)—who regarded Kennedy as an agent of capitalism and American imperialism —disrupted proceedings. Amid the violence, the ANC called on supporters to make South Africa " ungovernable "; foreign companies increasingly disinvested in the country and the South African rand reached
10458-543: The march, only to find out that police had barricaded the road along their intended route. The leader of the action committee asked the crowd not to provoke the police, and the march continued on another route and eventually ended up near Orlando High School. The crowd of between 3,000 and 10,000 students made its way towards the area of the school. Students sang and waved placards with slogans such as, "Down with Afrikaans", "Viva Azania " and "If we must do Afrikaans, Vorster must do Zulu ". The police set their trained dog on
10584-1040: The medium of instruction among the Black people as well?... No, I have not consulted them and I am not going to consult them. I have consulted the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa...." A change in language of instruction forced the students to focus on understanding the language, instead of the subject material. That made critical analysis of the content difficult and discouraged critical thinking. The resentment grew until 30 April 1976, when children at Orlando West Junior School in Soweto went on strike and refused to go to school. Their rebellion then spread to many other schools in Soweto. Black South African students protested because they believed that they deserved to be treated and taught like white South Africans. Also, very few people in Soweto spoke Afrikaans. A student from Morris Isaacson High School , Teboho "Tsietsi" Mashinini , proposed
10710-450: The morning of 16 June 1976. Students from various schools began to protest in the streets of the Soweto township in response to the introduction of Afrikaans , considered by many blacks as the "language of the oppressor", as the medium of instruction in black schools. It is estimated that 20,000 students took part in the protests. They were met with fierce police brutality , and many were shot and killed. The number of pupils killed in
10836-405: The official outposts of the state. The violence had abated by nightfall. Police vans and armoured vehicles patrolled the streets throughout the night. Emergency clinics were swamped with injured and bloody children. The police requested for the hospital to provide a list of all victims with bullet wounds to prosecute them for rioting. The hospital administrator passed the request to the doctors, but
10962-458: The position to apartheid. He appointed gay priests to senior positions and privately criticised the church's insistence that gay priests remain celibate. Along with Boesak and Stephen Naidoo , Tutu mediated conflicts between black protesters and the security forces; they for instance worked to avoid clashes at the 1987 funeral of ANC guerrilla Ashley Kriel . In February 1988, the government banned 17 black or multi-racial organisations, including
11088-473: The poverty of the blacks he claimed to represent. He received hate mail and death threats from white far-right groups like the Wit Wolwe . Although he remained close with prominent white liberals like Helen Suzman , his angry anti-government rhetoric also alienated many white liberals like Alan Paton and Bill Burnett , who believed that apartheid could be gradually reformed away. In 1984, Tutu embarked on
11214-628: The powers that be". After Philip Russell announced his retirement as the Archbishop of Cape Town , in February 1986 the Black Solidarity Group formed a plan to get Tutu appointed as his replacement. At the time of the meeting, Tutu was in Atlanta , Georgia, receiving the Martin Luther King, Jr. Nonviolent Peace Prize . Tutu secured a two-thirds majority from both the clergy and laity and
11340-600: The protest arrived at schools that morning without prior knowledge of the protest but agreed to become involved. The protest was planned by the Soweto Students' Representative Council's (SSRC) Action Committee, with support from the wider Black Consciousness Movement . Teachers in Soweto also supported the march after the Action Committee emphasized good discipline and peaceful actions. Tsietsi Mashinini led students from Morris Isaacson High School to join up with others who walked from Naledi High School . The students began
11466-452: The protesters, who responded by killing it. The police then began to shoot directly at the children. Among the first students to be shot dead were the 15-year-old Hastings Ndlovu and the 12-year-old Hector Pieterson , who were shot at Orlando West High School. The photographer Sam Nzima took a photograph of a dying Hector Pieterson as he was carried away by Mbuyisa Makhubo and accompanied by his sister, Antoinette Peterson, which became
11592-465: The real issue at stake. It is not the rental issue, it is not the presence of security forces in black residential areas, it is not certain remembrance days, it is not school programs. The violent overthrow of the South African state is the issue." As retaliation, a black town councilor was killed the following day, hacked to death by a mob. On September 4, police filled a stadium with tear gas to stop
11718-422: The riots spread all over the world and shocked millions. The photograph of Hector Pieterson's dead body, as captured by the photojournalist Sam Nzima , caused outrage and brought down international condemnation on the apartheid government. The Soweto riots were depicted in the 1987 film by the director Richard Attenborough , Cry Freedom and in the 1992 musical film Sarafina! and the musical production of
11844-457: The role, he took over the country's largest diocese, comprising 102 parishes and 300,000 parishioners, approximately 80% of whom were black. In his inaugural sermon, Tutu called on the international community to introduce economic sanctions against South Africa unless apartheid was not being dismantled within 18 to 24 months. He sought to reassure white South Africans that he was not the "horrid ogre" some feared; as bishop he spent much time wooing
11970-653: The salary he earned at Fedsem. He and his wife moved to the UBLS campus; most of his fellow staff members were white expatriates from the US or Britain. As well as his teaching position, he also became the college's Anglican chaplain and the warden of two student residences. In Lesotho, he joined the executive board of the Lesotho Ecumenical Association and served as an external examiner for both Fedsem and Rhodes University . He returned to South Africa on several occasions, including to visit his father shortly before
12096-548: The same name by Mbongeni Ngema . The riots also inspired the novel A Dry White Season by Andre Brink and a 1989 movie of the same title . The uprising also featured in the 2003 film Stander about the notorious bank robber and former police captain Andre Stander . The lyrics of the song " Soweto Blues " by Hugh Masekela and Miriam Makeba describe the Soweto Uprising and the children's part in it. In June 1996,
12222-508: The second South African to receive the award, after Albert Luthuli in 1960. South Africa's government and mainstream media either downplayed or criticised the award, while the Organisation of African Unity hailed it as evidence of apartheid's impending demise. After Timothy Bavin retired as Bishop of Johannesburg, Tutu was among five replacement candidates. An elective assembly met at St Barnabas' College in October 1984 and although Tutu
12348-661: The situation in Rhodesia , but the Soweto uprising did not feature in the discussions. Kissinger and Vorster met again in Pretoria in September 1976, with students in Soweto and elsewhere protesting his visit and being fired on by police. On the night of 26 August 1986, the police opened fire on a demonstration in the White City locale. They killed between 20 and 25 people, possibly more, and wounded over 60. The South African government officially claimed that 11 people had died but later raised
12474-452: The support of white Anglicans in his diocese, and resigned as patron of the UDF. I have no hope of real change from this government unless they are forced. We face a catastrophe in this land and only the action of the international community by applying pressure can save us. Our children are dying. Our land is bleeding and burning and so I call the international community to apply punitive sanctions against this government to help us establish
12600-444: The symbol of the Soweto uprising. The police attacks on the demonstrators continued, and 23 people died on the first day in Soweto. Among them was Melville Edelstein . He was stoned to death by the mob and left with a sign around his neck proclaiming, "Beware Afrikaans is the most dangerous drug for our future". The violence escalated, as bottle stores and beer halls, seen as outposts of the apartheid government, were targeted, as were
12726-482: The time has passed when we will wait for the white man to give us permission to do our thing. Whether or not he accepts the intellectual respectability of our activity is largely irrelevant. We will proceed regardless." Seeking to fuse the African-American derived black theology with African theology , Tutu's approach contrasted with that of those African theologians, like John Mbiti , who regarded black theology as
12852-423: The time included mainly dispersement techniques. Hundreds of people were arrested, including activist Connie Mofokeng , who was tortured for information. The number of people who died is usually given as 176, with estimates up to 700. The original government figure claimed only 23 students were killed, with the number of wounded estimated to be over 1,000 people. Black students also killed two white people during
12978-407: The uprising is usually estimated as 176, but some sources estimate as many as 700 fatalities. The riots were a key moment in the fight against apartheid as it sparked renewed opposition against apartheid in South Africa both domestically and internationally. In remembrance of these events, 16 June is a public holiday in South Africa, named Youth Day. Internationally, 16 June is known as The Day of
13104-422: The uprising, one of them Melville Edelstein . The clashes occurred while the South African government was being forced to "transform" apartheid in international eyes towards a more "benign" form. In October 1976, Transkei , the first Bantustan , was proclaimed "independent" by the government. That attempt to showcase supposed South African "commitment" to self-determination backfired, however, since Transkei
13230-495: The white doctor who pronounced Pieterson dead in Baragwanath Hospital. The programme was broadcast on SABC and on a number of local radio stations throughout South Africa. The following year, BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service broadcast a revised version containing fresh interviews, The Day Apartheid Died . The programme was runner-up at the 1998 European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO) TV & Radio Awards and also at
13356-521: The winning side! Your cause is unjust. You are defending what is fundamentally indefensible, because it is evil. It is evil without question. It is immoral. It is immoral without question. It is unchristian. Therefore, you will bite the dust! And you will bite the dust comprehensively. Opposed on principle to capital punishment , in March 1988 Tutu took up the cause of the Sharpeville Six who had been sentenced to death. He telephoned representatives of
13482-606: Was baptised into the Methodist Church in June 1932. They subsequently changed denominations, first to the African Methodist Episcopal Church and then to the Anglican Church . In 1936, the family moved to Tshing , where Zachariah became principal of a Methodist school. There, Tutu started his primary education, learned Afrikaans , and became the server at St Francis Anglican Church. He developed
13608-642: Was "the language of the oppressor." Also, teacher organizations, such as the African Teachers Association of South Africa, objected to the decree. Punt Janson, the Deputy Minister of Bantu Education, was quoted as saying: "A Black man may be trained to work on a farm or in a factory. He may work for an employer who is either English-speaking or Afrikaans-speaking and the man who has to give him instructions may be either English-speaking or Afrikaans-speaking. Why should we now start quarrelling about
13734-444: Was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian , known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist . He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbishop of Cape Town from 1986 to 1996, in both cases being the first Black African to hold the position. Theologically, he sought to fuse ideas from Black theology with African theology . Tutu was born of mixed Xhosa and Motswana heritage to
13860-553: Was born in April 1956; a daughter, Thandeka, appeared 16 months later. The couple worshipped at St Paul's Church, where Tutu volunteered as a Sunday school teacher, assistant choirmaster, church councillor, lay preacher, and sub-deacon; he also volunteered as a football administrator for a local team. In 1953, the white-minority National Party government introduced the Bantu Education Act to further their apartheid system of racial segregation and white domination. Disliking
13986-409: Was elected dean of the province. In church meetings, Tutu drew upon traditional African custom by adopting a consensus-building model of leadership, seeking to ensure that competing groups in the church reached a compromise and thus all votes would be unanimous rather than divided. He secured approval for the ordination of female priests in the Anglican church, having likened the exclusion of women from
14112-517: Was employed teaching doctrine, the Old Testament , and Greek; Leah became its library assistant. Tutu was the college's first black staff-member, and the campus allowed a level of racial-mixing which was rare in South Africa. The Tutus sent their children to a private boarding school in Swaziland, thereby keeping them from South Africa's Bantu Education syllabus. Tutu joined a pan-Protestant group,
14238-847: Was gaining prominence as the language most often used in commerce and industry. The 1974 decree was intended to force the reverse of the decline of Afrikaans among black Africans. The Afrikaner -dominated government used the clause of the 1909 Union of South Africa Act that recognised only English and Dutch, the latter being replaced by Afrikaans in 1925, as official languages as its pretext. All schools had to provide instruction in both Afrikaans and English as languages, but white South African students learned other subjects in their home language . The Regional Director of Bantu Education (Northern Transvaal Region), J.G. Erasmus, told Circuit Inspectors and Principals of Schools that from 1 January 1975, Afrikaans had to be used for mathematics, arithmetic, and social studies from standard five (7th grade), according to
14364-434: Was his parents' second son; their firstborn boy, Sipho, had died in infancy. Another daughter, Gloria Lindiwe, was born after him. Tutu was sickly from birth; polio atrophied his right hand, and on one occasion he was hospitalised with serious burns. Tutu had a close relationship with his father, although was angered at the latter's heavy drinking and violence toward his wife. The family were initially Methodists and Tutu
14490-493: Was impressed by Jomo Kenyatta 's Kenyan government and witnessed Idi Amin 's expulsion of Ugandan Asians . During the early 1970s, Tutu's theology changed due to his experiences in Africa and his discovery of liberation theology . He was also attracted to black theology , attending a 1973 conference on the subject at New York City's Union Theological Seminary . There, he presented a paper in which he stated that "black theology
14616-515: Was internationally derided as a puppet state . For the government, the uprising marked the most fundamental challenge yet to apartheid. The economic and political instability that it caused was heightened by the strengthening international boycott. It would be 14 years before Nelson Mandela was released, but the state could never restore the relative peace and social stability of the early 1970s, as black resistance grew. The liberation movements that were either weakened or exiled gained new momentum as
14742-514: Was nominated to become the Bishop of Lesotho . Although Tutu did not want the position, he was elected to it in March 1976 and reluctantly accepted. This decision upset some of his congregation, who felt that he had used their parish as a stepping stone to advance his career. In July, Bill Burnett consecrated Tutu as a bishop at St Mary's Cathedral. In August, Tutu was enthroned as the Bishop of Lesotho in
14868-483: Was officially installed as dean in August 1975. The cathedral was packed for the event. Moving to the city, Tutu lived not in the official dean's residence in the white suburb of Houghton but rather in a house on a middle-class street in the Orlando West township of Soweto , a largely impoverished black area. Although majority white, the cathedral's congregation was racially mixed, something that gave Tutu hope that
14994-479: Was one of the two most popular candidates, the white laity voting bloc consistently voted against his candidature. To break deadlock, a bishops' synod met and decided to appoint Tutu. Black Anglicans celebrated, although many white Anglicans were angry; some withdrew their diocesan quota in protest. Tutu was enthroned as the sixth Bishop of Johannesburg in St Mary's Cathedral in February 1985. The first black man to hold
15120-607: Was secured from the International Missionary Council 's Theological Education Fund (TEF), and the government agreed to give the Tutus permission to move to Britain. They duly did so in September 1962. At KCL, Tutu studied under theologians like Dennis Nineham , Christopher Evans , Sydney Evans , Geoffrey Parrinder , and Eric Mascall . In London, the Tutus felt liberated experiencing a life free from South Africa's apartheid and pass laws ; he later noted that "there
15246-456: Was strained. In September 1977 he returned to South Africa to speak at the Eastern Cape funeral of Black Consciousness activist Steve Biko , who had been killed by police. At the funeral, Tutu stated that Black Consciousness was "a movement by which God, through Steve, sought to awaken in the black person a sense of his intrinsic value and worth as a child of God". We in the SACC believe in
15372-530: Was the Soweto Local Interim Committee. Its aim was not to collaborate with the local government administrative boards but to negotiate directly with the national government with the objective of running the city with an elected council and a budget financed by local taxes and a state subsidy. The South African government would not negotiate and instead continued its policy of Community Councils made up of black councillors that would collaborate with
15498-649: Was then ratified in a unanimous vote by the synod of bishops. He was the first black man to hold the post. Some white Anglicans left the church in protest. Over 1,300 people attended his enthronement ceremony at the Cathedral of St George the Martyr on 7 September 1986. After the ceremony, Tutu held an open-air Eucharist for 10,000 people at the Cape Showgrounds in Goodwood , where he invited Albertina Sisulu and Allan Boesak to give political speeches. Tutu moved into
15624-464: Was transferred to St Philip's Church in Thokoza , where he was placed in charge of the congregation and developed a passion for pastoral ministry. Many in South Africa's white-dominated Anglican establishment felt the need for more black Africans in positions of ecclesiastical authority; to assist in this, Aelfred Stubbs proposed that Tutu train as a theology teacher at King's College London (KCL). Funding
15750-451: Was troubled that Reagan had a warmer relationship with South Africa's government than his predecessor Jimmy Carter , describing Reagan's government as "an unmitigated disaster for us blacks". Tutu later called Reagan "a racist pure and simple". In New York City, Tutu was informed that he had won the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize ; he had previously been nominated in 1981, 1982, and 1983. The Nobel Prize selection committee had wanted to recognise
15876-613: Was ultimately elected to the position, although stepped down after three months, with Tutu's agreeing to take over at the urging of the synod of bishops. His decision angered many Anglicans in Lesotho, who felt that Tutu was abandoning them. Tutu took charge of the SACC in March 1978. Back in Johannesburg—where the SACC's headquarters were based at Khotso House —the Tutus returned to their former Orlando West home, now bought for them by an anonymous foreign donor. Leah gained employment as
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