South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu dies at 90

Cape Town: Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu, 90, has died in Cape Town, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced in a statement on Sunday.

Alongside late Nelson Mandela, Tutu was one of the most important voices against the old system of white minority rule known as apartheid. The Anglican cleric also headed the country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the post-apartheid era, and was seen by many as the conscience of the troubled nation.

"Desmond Tutu was a patriot without equal; a leader of principle and pragmatism," Ramaphosa said in a statement.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation said, "His contributions to struggles against injustice, locally and globally, are matched only by the depth of his thinking about the making of liberatory futures for human societies. He was an extraordinary human being."

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted Tutu "will be remembered for his spiritual leadership and irrepressible good humour." 

Tutu "died peacefully at the Oasis Frail Care Center in Cape Town this morning," said Ramphela Mamphele, the acting chairperson of the Archbishop Desmond Tutu IP Trust and coordinator of his office. The statement, issued on behalf of Tutu's family, did not provide details on the cause of death.