South Africa has had many difficult years.
On the other hand, a country that has produced historical figures such as Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu and Frederik Willem de Klerk within a generation can, in hindsight, consider itself lucky.
It is not least thanks to these men that the country made the transition from the injustice system of apartheid to a democracy with equal rights for all largely peacefully.
Of the three, Desmond Tutu was the one most likely to let his emotions run free in public. When it came to right and wrong, there was no compromise. After the end of apartheid, this was also felt by those whom he had once supported in their fight against the white regime. The Nobel Committee recognized his efforts for a peaceful transition as early as 1984 with the award of the Nobel Peace Prize. In contrast to some of the other award winners, Tutu also proved to be worthy of the award in retrospect. At Mandela's request, he worked in a leading position in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which tried to come to terms with the crimes of the apartheid era without resorting to bloody reckoning.
The world is now bidding farewell to those who have shaped South Africa significantly.
In recent years, the country has painfully learned that people like Desmond Tutu and the other leading figures of this generation are among the exceptional phenomena in history.
The country could use a moral conscience like the Archbishop of Johannesburg.
Today's leaders are often of the style of Jacob Zuma.
The former president is serving a prison sentence for corruption.
But maybe that's some kind of legacy from the Tutu generation.
After all, it is not always common for those in power to be held accountable for crimes by independent courts.