South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has released a statement that Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Mpilo Tutu has died at the age of 90.
"The passing of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is another chapter of bereavement in our nation's farewell to a generation of outstanding South Africans who have bequeathed us a liberated South Africa," Cyril Ramaphosa said.
Tutu, who became the first black archbishop of Cape Town, was born on 7 October 1931, in the city of Clericsdorp.
Desmond Tutu was one of the most prominent South African human rights activists; he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his efforts to weaken and then end apartheid.
In addition to the Nobel Prize, Tutu has received many other awards, including the Peace on Earth Prize, the Bishop John T. Walker Distinguished Service to Humanity Prize, the Lincoln Prize and the Gandhi Peace Prize.