Graça Machel spurs youth to rise to Tutu’s leadership challenge
Former South African First Lady Graça Machel has challenged the country’s youth to cultivate their own outstanding leadership to meet the challenges of their time.
The call comes amid renewed concerns of a leadership vacuum following the death of the 90-year-old Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu.
Tutu died in the early hours of Sunday morning, surrounded by family at his Cape Town home.
He was the country’s last surviving Nobel Peace laureate - an honour he shared with the late former President Nelson Mandela.
Mandela’s widow, Machel, expressed deep sadness at the loss of a close friend.
“Arch is the last of an extraordinarily outstanding generation of leaders that Africa birthed and gifted to the world,” Machel said in a statement.
Machel hailed Tutu for remaining steadfast in the fight against injustices across the board.
“Every sentence he spoke impacted the lives of millions, and both unified and empowered those in the noble struggle against Apartheid. How momentous a weight this must have been to shoulder?
“And yet he stood resolute and fearless, leading demonstrations cloaked in his flowing clerical robe with his cross as his shield - the embodiment of humankind’s moral conscience.”
Machel urged the youth to follow in the Arch’s footsteps.
“To the young generations of South Africa, Southern Africa, and Africa – it is in your hands now to cultivate your own outstanding leadership to meet the challenges of your time. You have your own historic mission at hand. Take inspiration from Arch’s life to carve out your own legacy,” she said.
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