Tutu discharged from hospital after treatment

July 21, 2015 10:01 AM

It was not clear what infection Tutu was being treated for, but his daughter, the Reverend Canon Mpho Tutu, has said his cancer remains dormant and well under control.

Desmond Tutu, retired South African Anglican archbishop, talks about his book "Forlatelse", or "The Book of Forgiving", written in collaboration with his daughter Mpho Tutu, at a book fair in Goteborg, September 26, 2014. REUTERS/Fredrik Sandberg/TT News Agency

Veteran South African anti-apartheid campaigner Desmond Tutu was discharged from hospital on Tuesday after a week fighting a persistent infection that is not related to his prostate cancer, his daughter said.

Tutu, 83, who has been living with prostate cancer for 18 years, underwent a course of intravenous antibiotics in a Cape Town hospital, according to his family.

It was not clear what infection Tutu was being treated for, but his daughter, the Reverend Canon Mpho Tutu, has said his cancer remains dormant and well under control.

Mpho said in a statement on Tuesday that her father's medical team had prescribed lots of rest.

"They have been fantastic and we'll be doing our best not to disappoint them," she said.

The former Anglican archbishop of Cape Town often used the pulpit to criticise the oppressive apartheid regime.

Tutu retired from public life in 2010, but has kept speaking out in a wide range of issues, from Israel'sPalestinian policies to corruption among South Africa's political elite.