Desmond Tutu dies at 90

South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu has died aged 90.

The 1984 Nobel Peace prize laureate, who helped end apartheid, passed away in Cape Town.

"The passing of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is another chapter of bereavement in our nation’s farewell to a generation of outstanding South Africans who have bequeathed us a liberated South Africa," President Cyril Ramaphosa said.

The presidency gave no details on the cause of Tutu's death.

Tutu was diagnosed with prostate cancer in the late 1990s and in recent years he was hospitalised on several occasions to treat infections associated with his cancer treatment.