Cape Town – Archbishop Thabo Makgoba has suggested that the Cape Town airport be renamed the Archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu International Airport in honour of Archbishop Emeritus Tutu.
Makgoba reportedly made the call at the St George’s Cathedral during a private, early morning family service on Sunday when Tutu’s remains were laid to rest.
Tutu died a week ago, aged 90, after a life spent fighting injustice.
Makgoba placed his remains under an inscribed memorial stone before the high altar.
Rest in peace Arch pic.twitter.com/CK9xVekvRA
— Thabo Makgoba (@ArchbishopThabo) January 2, 2022
He urged South Africans to “use this opportunity to turn a new page.
“Let us commit ourselves… to the radical, the revolutionary change that he advocated,” Makgoba said.
“…Let those of us who have resources pull in our belts, that others can eat enough to fill their stomachs. Let us reorder our society to end inequality and create equal opportunities for all. And why don’t we rename the Cape Town International Airport the Desmond Mpilo Tutu International Airport?,” Times Live quoted Makgoba as saying.
ALSO READ | Desmond Tutu’s ashes buried in Cape Town cathedral
Famed for his modesty, Tutu had left instructions for a simple, no-frills funeral with a cheap coffin, followed by an eco-friendly flameless cremation.
Family, friends, clergy and politicians had attended a requiem mass on Saturday with President Cyril Ramaphosa leading the tributes.
“Our departed father was a crusader in the struggle for freedom, for justice, for equality and for peace, not just in South Africa… but around the world as well,” said Ramaphosa.
“While our beloved (Nelson Mandela) was the father of our democracy, Archbishop Tutu was the spiritual father of our new nation”, lauding him as “our moral compass and national conscience”.
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Additional reporting by AFP
