Retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu announced Saturday he would not be attending Nelson Mandela's funeral due to claims of not being invited, highlighting underlying tensions between him and the current South African government, according to the Associated Press.
Tutu, who has worked closely with Mandela in the anti-apartheid struggle and has criticized the current government in the past said he would not be attending the funeral because he was not invited, according to the AP.
"Much as I would have loved to attend the service to say a final farewell to someone I loved and treasured, it would have been disrespectful to Tata (Mandela) to gatecrash what was billed as a private family funeral," Tutu said in the statement. "Had I or my office been informed that I would be welcome there is no way on earth that I would have missed it."
The 82-year-old Nobel Peace prize winner said his plans to fly to the Eastern Cape had to be cancelled after he was not put on the guest list or accreditation list, according to the AP.
Tutu's daughter, Rev. Mpho Tutu, also released a statement saying her father had not been accredited as a clergyman, but a spokesman for the South African government said credentials are not needed to attend the funeral as an invited guest, according to the AP.
The problem underlying this issue may very well be the tension that has long been present between the Tutu's relationship with the current government, who Tutu slammed as "disgraceful" for not issuing the Dalai Lama a visa when he invited him to South Africa to celebrate Tutu's 80th birthday, the AP reported.
South African officials deny they refused the visa due to pressures from China who is a major trading partner, leading Tutu of accusing them for not siding with "Tibetans who are being oppressed viciously by the Chinese," according to the AP.
Mac Maharaj, a spokesman for the South African presidency, said Tutu definitely is on the guest list and that he hopes a solution will be found that allows Tutu to attend, though he was not sure if Tutu had been invited to eulogize Mandela, an act Tutu has carried out at other major anti-apartheid leader's funeral.
"Certainly he is invited," Maharaj said, the AP reported. "He's an important person."
