In a recent visit to London, South African Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu spoke to Reuters about the launch of his UK foundation and reflected on life, leadership and the issues facing Africans.

Billed as ‘A Conversation with Desmond Tutu’, this remarkable event was hosted by Reuters as a celebration of the Archbishop’s life’s work and to mark the launch of the Tutu Foundation UK.

The Tutu Foundation UK was set up to promote Archbishop Emeritus Tutu’s work on truth and reconciliation as a means of tackling violent gang culture. Following his service as Chairman of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the body established by the South African government to examine human rights abuses during apartheid, the Archbishop wants the UK Foundation to promote the virtues of tolerance, equality and leadership that has helped South Africa to make such a peaceful transition to democracy.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was based on those established in countries such as Chile and Argentina. South Africa’s version was different chiefly due to the involvement of the country’s civil society. The Commissioners were all people nominated by the public and were interviewed in public by a multi-party panel from which the then President, Nelson Mandela, chose the 17 Commissioners.

Niall Fitzgerald, Chairman of Reuters and host of the evening’s event, introduced the Archbishop as ‘Africa’s voice of conscience’ and a staunch advocate of non-violent resistance to apartheid in South Africa.

Archbishop Tutu began the interview by acknowledging the crucial part that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) played in South Africa, describing it as an extraordinary process. “It was an incredible privilege to be asked to help in the healing of a deeply wounded and traumatized people,” he said. Of the terrible stories that were told to the Commission, the Archbishop said, “we were devastated by some of the revelations that were part of that process.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly for a man who has so effectively preached reconciliation, the Archbishop urged caution in judging those charged with committing heinous crimes. “All of us in fact,” he said, “have an extraordinary capacity for evil and we need to keep saying ‘there but for the grace of God, go I’. “

Archbishop Tutu observed that while he had expected to take away only negative memories from the TRC, he had found the converse to be true. “What we have taken away is the memory of some of the most incredible moments when someone who should have been spilling anger and resentment could show such magnanimity and generosity of spirit that you say yes, we have also this remarkable capacity for good – all of us! We are made for goodness and it is something that we need to hear.”

Asked whether he believed that South Africa has put its past behind her, the Archbishop said, “If you say, have we been reconciled, that suggests it is an event. It is actually a long drawn-out process.” He referred to Germany where a wall divided people of the same culture and yet the full process of reunification even today is not easy.

“Imagine with us – a history of three centuries when one area was alienated from the other,” he said. In South Africa, the mandate was the promotion of national unity and reconciliation, not for its achievement. Reconciliation, he added, “is a national project to which every South African has to contribute.”

“We Christians need to get off our high horse and learn to be a bit more humble” was the forthright response by the Archbishop to a question from the audience about the power of religion to heal rather than to hurt. He cited the involvement of Christians in horrific activities ranging from the Ku Klux Klan to the Oklahoma City bombers. “Christians were responsible for the holocaust and for apartheid – we have to tread softly!’

Stereotypes about religion, said the Archbishop, were a product of lazy thinking. “There is no faith that I know which propagates violence,” he said, quoting former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan who said ‘It is quite clear that it is not faiths that are the problem, it is the faithful’.

“The media should be passionate about letting people judge for themselves and be careful with their use of language,” he cautioned, citing the use of the words ‘Muslim terrorists’ when one never speaks of ‘Christian terrorists’.

The role of leadership is one that has been crucial to the success of democratic South Africa, acknowledged the Nobel laureate. “We were very blessed in that at a crucial stage in our history we had Nelson Mandela,” he said. “Mandela had the credibility to make it possible for people to listen, even if they didn’t like his message.” South Africa’s first democratically elected President, he said, was “a spectacular example of magnanimity.”

Wile he acknowledged the huge strides taken in creating a better South Africa, the Archbishop stressed that only the eradication of poverty can create the security needed by society at large. “As long as there are conditions in the world that make people desperate, you will never win any war against terror,” he said.

“If you eradicate poverty, you are not being altruistic; you are being smart for yourself. We are all interdependent for our mutual survival and unless the gap between rich and poor is narrowed, we might just as well kiss reconciliation goodbye.”

The growth of the Black middle class in South Africa has created a new wealthy class in the country; one, he said, that should not turn its back on its less affluent citizens. “Some have crossed into the Promised Land but most are languishing in the wilderness.”

Creating a more equitable society and ensuring a wider distribution of wealth, said the Archbishop, was critical in order to dampen the ‘powder keg of poverty’. “It is in the interests of those of us who are well-to-do to see to the interests of others,” he added. “Otherwise, we may not have anything at all.”

Every human being, the Archbishop said, is a ‘God-carrier’ and fundamentally good. “There isn’t anyone who is a lost cause really,” he said, “although sometimes you have to look hard!” God puts most of His resources into the recovery of the sinner, he noted, proving the power and importance of reconciliation.

Good people are the ones who are revered, he said, not the wealthy or the powerful. The Foundation, he added, is to remind us that we are all essentially good and made for transcendence; for goodness, for laughter and for joy. “That is what God has created us for.”

The Tutu Foundation UK aims at transforming gang leaders, and those that see them as role models, into agents for positive change. By enabling the voices of disaffected youth to be heard, the Foundation believes that a process can be started to redirect youth leadership and to reclaim vulnerable young lives.

Its first two initiatives are youth programmes: Team Tutu UK and Team Tutu Global which aim to give young people an increased understanding of people from other cultures. “We believe that this programme will transform the way that young people look at the world and the constructive and redeeming role they can play in it,” is the message from the Foundation. “The programme will create the leaders of tomorrow – leaders that embrace diversity – leaders that are inspired to promote tolerance, peace building and understanding.”

Working with partners that include the YMCA, the Prince's Trust and Henley Management College, the Foundation intends to also reach out to groups such as politicians, lawyers, officers in the armed forces and the police who, through their positions of leadership, can help others and affect their quality of life.

The Tutu Foundation is actively working as a bridge between policy-makers and deprived communities, supporting the works of grass-roots organisations working to enhance community cohesion and promoting workable approaches and interventions.

For information about The Tutu Foundation UK: www.tutufoundationuk.org