By Kwanta Douglas –
South Africa’s revered anti-apartheid fighter Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who died at the weekend aged 90, will have his lie in state for two days ahead of his funeral on New Year’s Day, his foundations said on Tuesday.
The lying in state was initially scheduled to last just one day — Friday — but has been extended to Thursday “to accommodate more mourners,” the Archbishop Tutu IP Trust and Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation said.
The statement expressed deep thanks for the outpouring of support expressed around the world after Tutu passed away.
“This deluge of love serves to compensate, to some extent, for Covid regulations restricting the size of gatherings and the nature of the send-off our beloved Arch so richly deserves,” the foundations said, referring to Tutu’s nickname.
Tutu’s body will lie in St. George’s Cathedral, in his former Cape Town parish. His body will be cremated after the funeral and his ashes then placed in the cathedral.
Attendance at his farewell on Saturday has to be capped at 100 because of anti-coronavirus restrictions, the archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba, has said.