Farewell Tutu

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South Africa yesterday bade farewell to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the last great hero of the struggle against apartheid, in a funeral stripped of pomp but freighted with tears and showered with drizzles of rain.

Tutu died last Sunday at the age of 90, triggering grief among South Africans and tributes from world leaders for a life spent fighting injustice.

Famous for his modesty, Tutu gave instructions for a simple ceremony, with a cheap coffin, donations for charity instead of floral tributes, followed by an eco-friendly cremation.

After the ceremony, he was burried in Cape Town's St. George's Cathedral where, for years, Tutu used the pulpit to rail against a brutal white minority regime.

With Nelson Mandela and other leaders sentenced to decades in prison, Tutu in the 1970s became the emblem of the anti-apartheid struggle. He campaigned relentlessly abroad and home and castigated world powers for failing to slap sanctions on the regime. He was also fearlessly against the new rulers after the end of apartheid.