Retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu did not receive credential for Mandela funeral so won’t attend

JOHANNESBURG – A spokesman for retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu says the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, longtime friend of Nelson Mandela and occasional critic of the current government won’t be attending Mandela’s funeral because he didn’t receive credentials to do so.

“The Archbishop is not an accredited clergyperson for the event and thus will not be attending,” Rev. Mpho Tutu, the archbishop’s daughter, said in a statement. She is chief executive of the Desmond and Leah Tutu Foundation.

A spokesman for Tutu refused to elaborate and said Tutu himself would not be commenting.

Tutu spoke earlier in the week at a memorial service to Mandela held in Soweto. Mandela is to be buried Sunday in his home village of Qunu.

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