Cape Town – Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu celebrates his 82nd birthday next month with a series of charitable events and former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan will be delivering his annual peace lecture.

On 7 October Annan will follow in the footsteps of Graça Machel and the Dalai Lama.

The Tibetan spiritual leader gave his friend’s inaugural birthday lecture via a video link-up, after he was denied a visa to enter SA.

Pretoria has increasingly close ties with Beijing, which considers the Dalai Lama a violent separatist.

Before the speech Tutu will donate a sports field to a Cape Town school, and hand out gifts to the elderly.

The diminutive clergyman will also use the day to spread the message of caring for the environment.

A critic of the ANC, Tutu remains one of the prominent moral authorities of modern-day South Africa.

His wife of 58 years, Leah, will celebrate her 80th birthday on 14 October.

– AFP