On behalf of the Trustees and Staff of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, I would like to wish Archbishop Desmond Tutu a very happy 85th birthday.
Father, you are a national and international treasure. We congratulate you on your lifetime of work for peace and justice and wish you many more years with us.
As Madiba said on your 75th birthday: “If there is one birthday wish we may have for Desmond Tutu, it would be that his example is followed by more and more South Africans. His moral courage and unflagging integrity are the attributes we need for all our people, and especially those aspiring to be leaders.
"We have achieved enormously in the political and economic arena. Our challenge is to build a nation that is caring and decent and based on values of human solidarity. We have no better example to emulate than that of Desmond Tutu. Happy birthday, Mpilo. Continue to be our voice of conscience."