Word: tutu
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...charges, most of them black, approached 1,500 last week, though about 700 have since been released. The death toll since the emergency was declared on July 20 is close to 100. Tension has been steadily increasing, even in areas not covered by the emergency regulations. Anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu, the Nobel Peace laureate who has emerged as the leading voice of moderate black protest, conducted a mass funeral in Daveyton township and then personally averted an open clash between security forces and hundreds of black mourners...
Suddenly a red Toyota drew up near the tent and out stepped the familiar figure of Bishop Desmond Tutu. In purple cassock and silver pectoral cross, he strode into the tent and took his place. The silver-handled coffin of Elizabeth Khumalo was brought in, and the family, wrapped in blankets, sat on the ground in front of the bishop. The tent was jam-packed, and the crowd spilled out onto the street...
...extraordinary moment the atmosphere was transformed. Anger seeped from the tent into the cool winter air as the crowd sang the black anthem God Bless Africa. They sang first in Zulu and then in Sotho. They sang with joy, and they sang with conviction. Speaking in English, Tutu told the gathering that he had asked the government, "Please allow us to mourn, to bury our dead with dignity, to share the burden of our sorrow. Do not rub salt in our wounds ... I appeal to you because we are already hurt, already down. We are humans, not animals. When...
...police commandant, warned the crowd over a loudspeaker, "You are acting against the law. You must disperse. When the convoy starts moving you must all be in vehicles. No processions and no bicycles should be used." But there were no buses to take the mourners to the cemetery. Tutu pleaded with the colonel for buses. Otherwise, he warned, the crowd might turn ugly and there would be bloodshed. The colonel said he could not promise enough transportation. The standoff continued for almost an hour, with the tension rising steadily. Finally, after an hour of weapons drawn and whips...
Common sense had prevailed. Said Tutu with a twinkle in his eye: "I have always believed people to be saints until they proved themselves rogues." The colonel was more taciturn. "No comment" was all he could muster...