Cape Town — One of Desmond Tutu's closest aides and spiritual companions in his retirement years, his son-in-law, Mthunzi Gxashe, has died in Johannesburg.
Perhaps the most admired and loved Tutu aide at home and abroad, he suffered mini-strokes in recent months, but his death on Sunday was unexpected. He and his wife, Thandeka Tutu-Gxashe, who lived in Cape Town, were on a short visit to Johannesburg at the time.
He took on the role of aide and traveling companion during the last busy decade of Tutu's life, on missions such as those for The Elders, a group of independent global leaders "working together for peace, justice, human rights and a sustainable planet". One of those trips was a visit to Gaza.
Gxashe and Tutu-Gxashe returned to South Africa to join her parents after a long stay in Atlanta in the United States, where they had studied and worked.
News of his death was met with shock and distress among those who had known him, who almost unanimously cited his qualities of humility and kindness – although he could also be fierce in his protection of Tutu's time and space for prayer in intensive tours abroad.
Paying tribute to Gxashe after Tutu's death, a Tutu successor as Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba, described him as a "faithful and deeply-devoted aide" to Tutu his last years.
Makgoba alluded to the root of Gxashe's first name in his mother tongue, isiXhosa – the word "isithunzi" means "shadow" in English, and a Xhosa idiom describes a person of influence as one who casts a long shadow. "Mthunzi has truly been the Arch's 'shadow'," said Makgoba, "lauded everywhere one goes for his unfailingly polite, firm and loving care of the Arch, the embodiment of a superb diplomat."
Rest In Peace Mthunzi Gxashe, Archbishop Tutu's Son-In-Law & Gentle Shadow
Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation
