Bolanle Akanji
Moderator
South Africa's retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu will not attend the state funeral on Sunday for his friend and fellow Nobel peace laureate and anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela, his family spokesman, Roger Friedman has said.
This is because Tutu was not accredited as a member of the clergy for the event but government officials insist he is on the guest list.
"The archbishop is not an accredited clergy person for the event and will thus not be attending," Friedman said, citing a statement made by Tutu's daughter the Reverend Mpho Tutu.
Mandela and Tutu were close friends during the former's life.
Asked about Tutu's attendance, foreign ministry spokesman Clayson Monyela a news agency: "Desmond Tutu is definitely on the guest list".
"I suspect the issue here is whether he would have provided any official duties as a clergy person ... he may have taken a decision not to attend the funeral," he added.
At a mass memorial ceremony for Mandela on Tuesday in Johannesburg, Tutu was not initially on the speaker's list but he was eventually invited to the podium.
This is because Tutu was not accredited as a member of the clergy for the event but government officials insist he is on the guest list.
"The archbishop is not an accredited clergy person for the event and will thus not be attending," Friedman said, citing a statement made by Tutu's daughter the Reverend Mpho Tutu.
Mandela and Tutu were close friends during the former's life.
Asked about Tutu's attendance, foreign ministry spokesman Clayson Monyela a news agency: "Desmond Tutu is definitely on the guest list".
"I suspect the issue here is whether he would have provided any official duties as a clergy person ... he may have taken a decision not to attend the funeral," he added.
At a mass memorial ceremony for Mandela on Tuesday in Johannesburg, Tutu was not initially on the speaker's list but he was eventually invited to the podium.
