According to a joint statement from their foundation, the coffin was “the cheapest available” at the request of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and human rights pioneer.
It was taken to the church on a motorcycle on Thursday morning. He will remain there for the audience till Friday, where social distancing will be followed.
Tutu, whose work made him a respected leader during the struggle to end apartheid in his native South Africa, died Sunday at the age of 90.
Memorial services are also underway in Johannesburg ahead of his New Year’s funeral on Saturday.
Papi Mizzi, who mourned at the church on Thursday, told CNN he had previously met with the archbishop.
“He was the moral compass of the country, if you wish,” Mizzi said. On a human level, Tutu “never took himself too seriously, he was always joking. Always mumbling, always laughing, always telling the truth,” Miji said.
“He never took himself higher than anyone else. He loved people, he always supported people,” said Miji.
In a statement confirming his passing on Sunday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa offered condolences to Tutu’s family and friends, calling him a “patriot without equals”.
Ramaphosa said, “A man of exceptional intelligence, integrity and invincibility against the forces of apartheid, he was also gentle and vulnerable in his compassion towards those who had faced oppression, injustice and violence under apartheid and the world. ” People were tortured everywhere.” ,
Tutu had been ill for years. In 2013, he tested for persistent infection, and was hospitalized several times over the years.
For six decades, Tutu – affectionately known as “The Ark” – was one of the primary voices encouraging the South African government to end apartheid, the country’s official policy of racial segregation. In the early 90s, Tutu was named chairman of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission after Nelson Mandela became the country’s president after apartheid ended and a lengthy prison term.
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