Tutu leaves his mark on Maropeng

Beaming, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu leaned on his helpers and pressed his left foot into the wet concrete outside the Maropeng Visitor Centre on July 31.

Tutu, in making his footprint at Maropeng as part of the Footprints Project, joined an exclusive club of presidents and Nobel laureates who have literally made their mark at Maropeng to celebrate our common human ancestry.

“I am incredibly honoured to be here. God has an incredible sense of humour. There are those who think they are superior because they have lighter skin. The greatest joke is every single one of us is from Africa. It has been scientifically proven that we belong in one family, the human family,” Tutu said.

The archbishop joins former South African president Thabo Mbeki, former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, President Jacob Zuma, former president of the Czech Republic Vaclav Klaus, and Nobel Prize laureates Sidney Brenner and Peter Agre in this unique club.