Tutu urges South Africans to follow in Mandela’s footsteps

One year after Nelson Mandela’s death, fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu called on South Africans to emulate the anti-apartheid hero’s example.

“Our obligation to Madiba is to continue to build the society he envisaged, to follow his example,” Tutu said in a statement, using Mandela’s clan name.

“A society founded on human rights, in which all can share in the rich bounty God bestowed on our country. In which all can live in dignity, together. A society of better tomorrows for all.”

Mandela passed away on December 5 last year, after a long illness that forced him to spend much of 2013 in hospital.

Tutu said the former president was South Africa’s “extraordinary pillar of strength” whose lesson to the nation “over and over, was don’t give up hope”.

“He taught us about the worth of a human being — all human beings. When he encountered you he never looked at your dress or your ethnicity or class. He respected everyone for who they were.”

Tutu called on South Africans to treasure the country’s constitution, “because it directly reflects our astonishing founder”.

“Let us follow in his footsteps and do ourselves proud.”