Where are the “Desmond Tutus” of today?

Audio 03:31

Jean-Baptiste Placca, columnist at RFI.

© RFI / Pierre René-Worms

By: Jean-Baptiste Placca

3 min

What remains as a charismatic figure and moral authority in Africa after the death of the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize?

Not to ask the question is to flee from reality.

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It is therefore the last great figure in its history that the South African people bring to earth, this January 1, 2022. Desmond Tutu was certainly erased in front of Nelson Mandela, but he was of just as great stature, you say. How was he compared to Mandela?

We always run the risk of getting lost in inconsistent considerations, when we get lost in wanting to compare personalities of such a dimension. Desmond Tutu himself had defined the roles well. With biblical references, he had specified, when Mandela had just come out of prison, that his mission was to open the way, to level the way, so that the true chosen one could come on stage. It prevents. What the world retains from Mandela's sole mandate is the work accomplished by Monsignor Tutu at the head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to heal the wounds, while we were not giving dear for the future. from this country.

Since we are not far from too full of praise, as wise as rave, and certainly very beautiful, perhaps it would be better to wonder about the post-Desmond Tutu, in South Africa and across the continent. .

So who will the Africans mourn tomorrow, as they mourn today for Desmond Tutu?

Which Africans today bring together the qualities that made the former Archbishop of Cape Town such an icon, respected on all continents?

We will find quite a few figures, even if they do not have all the stature of a Bishop Tutu! ...

This is the whole problem.

It is not a luxury, for a people, to have, by generation, a few personalities of this stature.

When one does not find one, and that one has to be satisfied… with two lower classes, it is because society is stagnating, worse, that it is retreating.

No one is asked to have accomplished all of what the Archbishop has achieved.

But women and men who help raise awareness and national pride are needed to move forward.

Desmond Tutu was barely fifty-two when he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his involvement in the injustice suffered by his people, the countless sacrifices made at the risk of their freedom, sometimes even their life.

And until his last breath, he never ceased to put this notoriety at the service of Africa.

Perhaps a few icons will emerge, over the course of events, at the turn of history ...

It turns out that in this area in particular, everything that comes under spontaneous generation is suspect and often ephemeral.

Of course Africans dream of Desmond Tutu's fate.

But planning on your computer how to become such an icon is a sham.

Because the way to reach these peaks implies steadfastness and perseverance.

Besides, becoming a Desmond Tutu cannot be the goal, the end of life.

Only disinterestedness, humility, kindness, a sense of the general interest, concern for others, simplicity and so many other qualities that we have heard praised for a week, can, over time, make of you a very small Tutu.

Because it is not a site on which one would convince oneself to be finished soon.

You have to work tirelessly and without calculation.

When you get to the top, it is not you, but others who will appreciate what you have accomplished, who you are.

Then you can't sleep on your laurels because they can wither quickly.

Desmond Tutu did not run frantically after honors, light: he left without realizing why the recognition, the glory, the honors were given to him and, above all, the love of his people, who weep for him. Hot tears.

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