south africa's story without him. singing. in one of his last public appearances, desmond tutu sat in a wheelchair in st george's cathedral, cape town. you are the one who understood what it meant... too frail, at last, to take his usual place in the spotlight. but that warm, irreverent spirit was there till the end. and what a life it was. i want to to say "our much to freedom..." our march to freedom... ..is unstoppable. a life that helped to guide and shape a turbulent nation. this is god's world and he is in charge and, boy, it's going to be ok. but it's going to be ok after an exorbitant price has been paid unnecessarily. in all seriousness, does the white south african government think that black people are human? i will myself call for punitive economic sanctions, whatever the legal consequences may be for doing so. and when they saw that awful thing happen there, many of them said, "uh—uh, if these people can still do things like this, "maybe they are not yet ready." # we walk hand in hand... there we go. whoopee! the one thing that helps desmond tutu stand out and occupy this unique place in south african history is that he was there at every step of the way, through this country's torturous journey from apartheid to democracy and beyond, with that clear moral, often angry, sometimes laughing voice. a man defined, above all, by his sense of hope. desmond tutu was born in 1931. he overcame childhood polio and tb. poverty denied him the chance to become a doctor, instead he was drawn into the anglican church. south africa was now controlled by an increasingly strict system of racial apartheid, of racist laws designed to subjugate the black majority. by the 1970s, tutu was dean of the anglican church injohannesburg and it was now that he took a step down the path that would come to define him. channelling the anger, the frustration of south africa's downtrodden. in a letter to the white apartheid prime minister, tutu warned that "a people made desperate by injustice "and oppression will turn to desperate means." "i am frightened, dreadfully frightened," he wrote, "that we will soon reach a point of no return. "i wish to god that i am wrong." basicallyjust saying to him that if the government doesn't show, by some dramatic, symbolic act, that they are taking seriously our anguish and our expression of it, that i had a nightmarish fear that we were going to have an explosion. and this was 1976, may. and he dismissed my letter contemptuously and, of course, something like a few weeks later 16 june happened, when violence, in fact, did erupt. the uprising that began among soweto high school students soon swept across the country. the fight against apartheid was now on the streets — seemingly unstoppable. and for many white south africans, desmond tutu quickly became a symbol of everything they feared. when i went to work for him there were people who, sort of, in our circle of acquaintance or our family's acquaintance who thought i was crazy. you know, he was the devil incarnate — literally. one of our family's friends, we learnt, said that i was going to work for the devil incarnate. because... because he was a terrorist. he was a fellow traveller. he fronted for the marxists. he was the embodiment of evil, he was — he was... the hatred was just extraordinary. but tutu's true message was something else. the enemy, he made clear, was not white south africans, but the system the denied so many people their humanity. we will not really be free until we are all free. and we want to share this country with you. it is our country, our country, all of us, black and white, and for goodness�* sake — for goodness�* sake, let us hold hands together. almost by default, tutu was becoming a figurehead, marching with fellow priests to a notoriousjohannesburg police station to demand a prisoners�* release. yes, i have a petition which i will read, which i seek to present to you. you can present it to me. i don't want to listen to it. i'll take it. thank you. challenging the apartheid government, not as a mere politician, but has something much harder to contain. we pray for those who rule this foolish land, who make its laws, and those who uphold... he wasn't bound by some ideology, he was driven by, if you like, what drove the old testament prophets — a passion forjustice, a belief that god cared most for the oppressed and the widow and the orphan and the foreigner, the people at the bottom end of the human pyramid, those were god's favourites. and it made him very powerful, of course, because he was up against an apartheid government that wrapped itself in the church and called the anc its communist enemies and tried to take the race issue out of it, and yet here was this black anglican priest challenging them. exactly, exactly. he was able to hit the regime at one of their most vulnerable points. they claimed to be the bastion of western christian morality, if you like, on the southern tip of africa. they claimed to be the last defence in africa against communism, whereas desmond could point out to you them, if you claim to be christian, then how can you possibly treat my people like this? desmond tutu�*s status was enhanced by the fact that the anc was banned. nelson mandela was imprisoned. ohter potential leaders were either in exile or in the underground, or dead. and so this apolitical priest emerged as the public face, the voice of the struggle for freedom. i think desmond tutu was the voice. i think i would rather say the voice of the people when the liberation movements were banned or restricted and some of us went in and out of prison he was the voice of the people and he represented the views of the people and their feelings on the ground. as the struggle became ever more violent, tutu often positioned himself between black protesters and white security forces, trying to find a way to avoid bloodshed. but, increasingly, tutu also found himself mediating between rival black groups. in the townships, anger and desperation were growing. and the search for traitors, for people spying for the apartheid security forces was turning murderous. suspects were killed on the spot. sometimes with a so—called necklace — a burning tyres placed over them. famously, tutu plunged into a crowd to save one suspect from the mob. for those young people it was almost like make an example of this guy, because we have got lots of these spies amongst us who should be stopped from spying on us and we die because of them. so there would have been justification in their minds. and desmond wading into the crowd, again, you know, this little man, small in stature, but incredibly powerful — morally and spiritually. and essentially putting himself over the body of that person saying, "i'm not going to let this happen." and that kind of courage silenced the mob. tutu was not afraid to confront and condemn his fellow black south africans. and the world is filled with people who support us, people who want us to be free, people who are struggling on our behalf in other countries. and when they saw that awful thing happen there, many of them said, "uh—uh, if these people can still do things like this "maybe they are not yet ready for freedom." but if we use methods such as the ones that we saw, then, my friends, i going to collect my family and to leave a country that i love very deeply. in 1984, tutu�*s role in south africa was recognised internationally with a nobel peace prize. the prize brought him not only fame, but a degree of protection inside south africa that many other anti—apartheid activists could only dream of. we took him seriously because he was an influential person and that is why the government did not touch him. he was free to travel all over the world, he was free to address meetings and so on because, you know, if he did not do that, the furore in the world would have been tremendous. and tutu did travel the world, rallying and shaming governments in the west to confront the truth about what was happening in south africa. the cold war was still active, the apartheid government had carefully positioned itself as a useful western ally against the spread of communism in africa. but tutu challenged all of that, playing an crucial role in persuading western nations to back economic sanctions against the apartheid regime. i give notice that even 18—24 months from today, february the third, apartheid has not been dismantled or is not being actively dismantled then for the first time i will call for punitive economic sanctions. he was key. there is no doubt about it. he came at the right time and he was very critical in terms of campaigning for sanctions. he was scathing of the blindness of people who for economic and ideological reasons, political reasons had a stake in preserving white dominance and the south african military dominance and all the rest of it at the southern tip of africa. his opinion of ronald reagan was, he came out having met with reagan and was scathing. the system of this country is evil! he said, of apartheid, very clearly, "it is evil. it is evil without remainder." there is no redeeming feature about it. it stands with nazism in its, in its complete lack of respect for the value of what he called god�*s little people. and that made it very awkward for britain and america, countries that were trying to find a negotiated path through this. yes. i think, again, it was the strength of desmond�* leadership and his role was to be so clear—cut, to be so clear about what was right and what was wrong. and not to allow himself to be sucked into the ifs and the buts and the compromises. by now, tutu was archbishop of cape town and senior anglican cleric in southern africa. apartheid rules meant that technically as a black man he couldn�*t live in the archbishop�*s official residence. he ignored that law and many other laws, indeed, tutu had begun hinting at the possibility of backing the anc�*s armed struggle. but south africa was already changing. secret talks had begun between the government and the outlawed anc. some black politicians now bristled at the way tutu behaved, the way he would organise a march without consulting them. i want you to say our march to freedom. crowd: our march to freedom! desmond tutu called for a march and we were outraged. what mandate does this man have? so we took ourselves off to bishop's court and to his credit, we rang the bell and said it is us and we want to see him, and he let us in. i discovered afterwards it was also monday where he goes into retreat, he is deeply spiritual. but he let us in and so i said to him excuse me, just what mandate do you have to call marches? and he just, he looked at me completely horrified but straight in the eye, and said to me "i have a mandate from god." what do you say? and then, abruptly, everything changed. the cold war was over and the apartheid government agreed to release nelson mandela from prison. that the government has taken a firm decision to release mr mandela unconditionally. it is indescribable. we thank god that he has heard our prayers and our leader has come out, will come out tomorrow. hallelujah. hallelujah! this was tutu�*s reaction, captured by an american television network. and there is mr mandela... the rest of the journey to full democracy was not smooth. thousands died in the next few years. south africa teetered on the edge of civil war. but in 1994, president mandela was sworn in and archbishop tutu began a new role. we are charged to unearth the truth about our dark past, to lay the ghost of that past so that they will not return to haunt us and we will thereby contribute to the healing of a traumatised and wounded people. the truth and reconciliation commission opened south africa�*s rawest wounds inviting apartheid�*s victims to tell their stories and its perpetrators to beg forgiveness. in other hands the process could have collapsed. but tutu, often in tears, was once again channelling the mood of the nation. it was almost as if he carried the whole country on his shoulders and the way that he, you know, in his characteristic manner, you know, this small as he is because he is a short person but, small as he is his shoulders and his hands and his spirit and his presence, you know? he would walk into that room in that robe of his and you could feel the sense of hope. there was no question about it. it was in the air, it was everywhere. and for that reason, you know, his presence was highly critical for the trc. after one term as president, nelson mandela stepped down. his old home in soweto turned into a museum. desmond tutu�*s house is a few doors down. two nobel prize winners on the same street. but there was no easing into a quiet retirement for desmond tutu, mostly perhaps because itjust was not his style. also because there was still so much to do and so much to say and, increasingly, so much going wrong in the new south africa. there was the scourge of hiv, mishandled for so many years and then there was corruption flourishing spectacularly during the presidency ofjacob zuma. tutu, as usual, spoke without caution and from the heart. i am warning you. i am warning you that we will pray as we prayed for the downfall of the apartheid government, we will pray for the downfall of a government that misrepresents us. but the anc largely shrugged. south africa�*s turbulent priest had become an irritant, a voice to be ignored. tutu was still lauded abroad. he continues to give voice to the voiceless and bring hope to those who thirst for freedom. cherished by royalty and by rock stars. # i still haven�*t found what i�*m looking for. but at 80 years old you are more punk rock than anyone i know. but his days as a central figure in south africa�*s drama were over. so how will he be remembered? as a man of fierce moral clarity, of courage, of prayer and laughter. but, perhaps, above all, as a man of hope. how many times at the very darkest moments you would hear this little diminutive bishop stand up and say to the regime "why don�*t you join the winning side before it is too late?" and people would laugh but they would also know that he was telling the truth. because he was so utterly convinced that ultimately justice would prevail. # justice shall prevail. # someday. hello there. after the extraordinarily mild weather things are such a change for the week ahead. slow changes initially but gradually the weather is set to turn colder and with that the chance we could see some wintry showers. low pressure very much in charge this evening on sunday but a subtle change in wind direction. we lose the very warm southerly winds we�*ve had over the last few days. instead we see a westerly wind and slowly but surely that will start to put things off although temperatures during sunday will still be well above the norm for the time of year. they will be sunshine but some outbreaks of rain, swinging eastward across wales and england through the day. also showers into northern ireland, scotland in northwest england pulled up some sunny spells in between, temperatures a little down thing where they happened but still all the way up to nine to 13 degrees. as we head through sunday night into the early hours of monday we will see for the showers, potentially longer spells of rain but here�*s the first sign of quite a big change, notably when starting to kick in across the northern half of scotland. behind this band of cloud and rain, that is associated with a frontal system. and rain, that is associated with a frontalsystem. it and rain, that is associated with a frontal system. it will continue its journey southward on monday for front down to the south and that could feed some outbreaks of rain certainly towards the channel islands of a potentially grazing into southern parts of england. that could cause the that�*s what will have to keep an eye on that one. here�*s our other weather front moving eastward into scotland, northern england and northern ireland and beyond that noticed a drop of the temperatures as that northerly wind kicks in. through monday night into tuesday our frontal system running across the south of the uk brings the potential for some wet and windy weather in places. our second front continues its journey southward and behind that we all get into this cold northerly wind. a very, very different feel to the weather by tuesday. although there will be spells of sunshine around some wintry showers getting going. especially around the coast in the north, some drifting around northern island parts of wales, be the west of cornwall as well. those temperatures down into single digits feeling very, very different. as we get into wednesday morning it could well be a frost to start the day but more in the way of dry weather. some spells of sunshine still potentially wanted to wintry showers around and those temperatures four for aberdeen, nine for plymouth. as we move out of wednesday into thursday looks like things are set to change again but frontal system pushing in from the west for the outbreaks of rain, potentially snow on the leading edge as that runs into the cold air. at this stage thursday looks like a pretty soggy day at least for a time. some sunny spells falling on behind showers again some will be wintry, temperatures four, maybe 11 degrees in the cell. getting much closer to where they should be really at this time of year. as we had through the end of the week into next weekend our weather continues to feed in from the west. that means we will see further outbreaks of rain at times, still the potential for some wintry witness mixing in because there will be incursions of cold air from time to time. slightly milder air also moving through but temperatures generally speaking will be much closer to where will it expect them to be at this time of year, five to eight or 9 degrees. as you see it is a pretty unsettled outlook with some rain at times and still the potential for some wintry showers. that�*s all from me. bye for now. this is bbc news. these are the headlines. as england reports another record number of daily coronavirus cases, health officials warn the days ahead will be crucial, as hospitalisations continue to rise. the government needs to make a difficult decision if it�*s going to introduce those restrictions, but if the number of hospitalisations keep going up at the rate they are then you can see why they would need to change their mind. new year honours for leading figures in the battle against covid. professors chris whitty and jonathan van—tam are knighted. drjenny harries and drjune raine are both made dames. darling, you don�*t need that. darling, you don't need that. how do i look? fabulous. _ it�*s absolutely fabulous for joanna lumley, who is made a dame.