APJ: What is your vision for the new South Africa? What are your thoughts about contemporary South Africa?

Tutu: We have all shared the dream of a South Africa that is caring and compassionate, where everyone really matters. Nelson Mandela at his inauguration in 1994 said, “Never again . . . would South Africa be a place where others oppressed their fellow human beings for whatever reason.” We have achieved much. We have a splendid Constitution, the highest court in the land is our Constitutional Court, we have a Public Protector, a Human Rights Commission, etc. We have erased obnoxious discriminatory laws; we have outlawed discrimination based on race, belief, sexual orientation, physical ability, gender. Fantastic. But yes, we still have a long way to go to translate political freedom into social and economic equity for all. We have levels of poverty that are unacceptable, corruption, homelessness, crime — though which country does not have problems?

APJ: What are the roots of present-day African conflicts and underdevelopment (e.g., ethnic, tribal, economic, etc.)? What can be realistically done to address them?

Tutu: There are many causes: colonialism, for instance, the genocide in Rwanda was prepared for by the policies of the Belgians who deliberately fanned ethnic rivalry between Tutsi and Hutu. Europe drew a crazy map of history in the scramble for Africa. But we must admit that we have suffered from power-hungry, corrupt despots whom the West often encouraged as the surrogates in the Cold War. The international economic system is hugely flawed. How can developing countries compete with wealthy Western countries in agricultural production when these developed nations pay such high subsidies to their farmers and maintain a high tariff wall? What price so-called free enterprise where the powerful are the rule makers, players, and referees all at the same time?

APJ: What is the role of the international community (e.g., United States, United Kingdom, European Union, United Nations, etc.) in addressing Africa’s issues?

Tutu: There is a new consciousness arising; there are wonderful people such as the young idealists who conceived Make Poverty History. There are the MDGs (Millennium Development Goals). Perhaps there is an awakening to the fact that we are interconnected, that the rich cannot quarantine themselves in their ghettos of affluence. We will never win wars of so-called terror as long as there are conditions in the world which make people desperate and so [they] use desperate methods. We have only one Earth home, and we will sink or swim together. We need to help African leaders to realize they exist for the advancement of their followers, to be rulers of integrity, working for the good of their people and not engaging in corruption and self-aggrandizement, to uphold human rights and democracy with an independent judiciary and a free and untrammeled media, etc.

APJ: How has the role of clergy and the church evolved in addressing global inequalities?

Tutu: Especially Christian leaders should work for the Kingdom of God, to hold leaders accountable, and to be the voice of the voiceless.

APJ: What advice would you give to tomorrow’s generation of leadership that would better prepare them to address the issues that they will face?

Tutu: I would say be a leader for the sake of the led — a servant leader working for the good of the people and not engaging in self-aggrandizement. Be humble and eager to listen to the people.