THE Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation has installed a life-size statue of Archbishop Desmond Tutu wearing a Palestinian scarf on the balcony of the Old Granary Building in Cape Town in protest of the bombing of Gaza.
They said the statue will only be removed when the bombings of Gaza have stopped.
The unveiling was conducted by Dr Mamphela Ramphele, who is the chairwoman of the Desmond Tutu Intellectual Property Trust and the CEO of the Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, Janet Jobson.
Speaking to the SunTeam, Mandla Mandela said he is proud that South Africa is fighting alongside the oppressed people of Palestine.
“We are proud as South Africans to see the stance that our government have been able to take in the International Court of Justice by ensuring that we look into the case we have been witnessing in Gaza and all over occupied Palestine. We applaud the South African government for its stance,” he said.
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Jobson said the stance they have taken is to display solidarity with the people of Palestine is something which Tutu always did when he was alive.
“We are doing this to emphasise the stance which the Arch took in solidarity with the Palestinian people against the apartheid policies of the Israel state. We think it’s very important for human beings around the world to stand in solidarity with those who are oppressed and those who are facing violence and humanitarian disaster,” Jobson said.
Ramphele said South Africans have gone through the same route which Palestinians are going through.
“He (Tutu) reminded us repeatedly that we are one family, God’s family. He was particularly partial to the people of Palestine because of the pain that we as South African indigenous people have suffered, which Palestinians are suffering purely; they live in their ancestral land,” said Ramphele.
Mandla said his grandfather and Tutu stood together in support of Palestinean people when they were alive.
