As the last of South Africa's moral giants is laid to rest, some say now is time to break the mould.
The allegation is widely contested and debated here in South Africa.
He would mock apartheid's leaders, urging them to join "the winning side, before it's too late," and drawing laughter from angry crowds in South Africa's embattled black townships. And Tutu would cry publicly, in the mid-1990s, at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which he led, channelling the grief and trauma of millions of people who watched on television as the daily revelations of torture and abuse suffered at the hands of apartheid security forces emerged.
Those now seeking to rewrite history, free of context, and to chip away at Tutu's legacy are in a minority. The truth, of course, is that Tutu was many different things to many people. In death he is claimed, and contested, just like Mandela. That is the nature of an icon. Like Mandela, Tutu will never be forgotten. He will continue to live on as an example and inspiration to countless others. Surely, that is enough.
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