Tutu 'glad' Mandela not alive to see today's South Africa

Nobel Peace Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu gestures during a press conference about the first 20 years of freedom in South Africa at St Georges Cathedral in Cape Town on April 23,2014. Tutu today celebrated 20 years of freedom in South Africa as a
Nobel Peace Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu gestures during a press conference about the first 20 years of freedom in South Africa at St Georges Cathedral in Cape Town on April 23,2014. Tutu today celebrated 20 years of freedom in South Africa as a "heck of an achievement", while confirming that he would not vote for the government in May 7 elections. -- PHOTO: AFP

CAPE TOWN (AFP) - Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu said in an interview published on Sunday that he was glad Nelson Mandela was not alive to witness the current state of South Africa.

"I'm glad that Madiba is dead. I'm glad that most of these people are no longer alive to see this," Mr Tutu told South Africa's Sunday Times newspaper, referring to what he saw as the slow pace of change in the 20 years since apartheid.

His comments were published as South Africa was celebrating the 20th anniversary of its first all-race elections that ended decades of racial oppression under apartheid and brought Mandela to power as its first black president.

"I didn't think there would be a disillusionment so soon," the Anglican archbishop emeritus was quoted as saying.

Mr Tutu, 82, who is still regarded as a moral beacon in South Africa, had confirmed on Wednesday that he would not vote for the ruling ANC in the May 7 elections.

He has been openly critical of current President Jacob Zuma's graft-tainted administration, but on Wednesday chose also to highlight the positives over the two decades since the fall of apartheid.

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