Anti-apartheid icon and the retired Anglican archbishop, Desmond Tutu, was giving a blessing at the ceremony when his home was broken into for the second time in recent months.
Desmond Tutu was burgled yesterday while he was speaking at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service.
He was among politicians, dignitaries, and 80,000 ordinary South Africans who attended the four-hour commemorative event at the FNB Stadium, and gave a blessing at the end of the service.
The thieves apparently targeted his home in the suburbs of Cape Town in the knowledge that he was more than 800 miles away at the ceremony in Johannesburg.
It is not yet known what was stolen, but South African police said the burglary happened between 7pm and 9pm on Tuesday evening. No arrests have yet been made.
“I can confirm that there was a burglary last night. We are not able to tell exactly what was stolen, the archbishop and his wife were not at home. The house was not pillaged.” his aide Roger Friedman said today.
Ceremony: The bishop with Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the UN, at Mandela’s memorial
Intimate: Mr Tutu kisses Mandela’s widow Graca Machel during the memorial service
Officers refused to confirm whether or not anything had been taken from the home of Mr Tutu, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.
Mr Tutu, 82, gave the closing prayers at yesterday’s ceremony to the former president in Johannesburg’s FNB Stadium.
He urged South Africans to follow Mandela’s example, saying: ‘I want to show the world we can come out here and celebrate the life of an icon.’