SOUTH AFRICAN PEACE ACTIVIST, ARCHBISHOP, DESMOND TUTU FINDS NEW GROOVE ON MTV MEETS

Archbishop Desmond Tutu meets with MTV VJ Sizwe Dhlomo and youth panellists in MTV Base Meets Archbishop Desmond Tutu with MTN

South African peace activist, Nobel Prize winner and South African national treasure Archbishop Desmond Tutu is sure to strike a chord with African youth with his appearance onMTV Base Meets…with MTN (MTV Base, DStv Channel 322, 5 September 2012).

MTV Base Meets Archbishop Desmond Tutu with MTN will follow the youthful and irrepressible Archbishop as he meets with four passionate young panellists from across Africa for a candid discussion across a wide range of subjects including peace, tolerance, activism and faith.

Meeting with Archbishop Tutu will be Nigerian politics and international relations studentZaphiaOvia (20), South African novelist and BA English literature and politics student Andy Petersen (19), Ghanaian entrepreneur and business studentMakafuiAyimey (24) and African studies studentTatendaMuranda (24) from Zimbabwe.

Archbishop Tutu’s meeting, taped in Cape Town, will premiere on MTV Base (DStv Channel 322) on 5 September 2012.  The programme, presented by MTV VJ Sizwe Dhlomo, will also

air on terrestrial channels in Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Rwanda, Swaziland, Zambia and Uganda.

Speaking about the young people he met through his involvement in MTV Base Meets Archbishop Desmond Tutu with MTN, Archbishop Desmond Tutu said, “I was very deeply impressed with my young interviewers.  In fact, I should say they made me glow with pride and to feel our world is in good hands: their hands."

Archbishop Tutu (80),was the first black Archbishop of Cape Town, and primate of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa (now the Anglican Church of Southern Africa). He rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as a fearless and vocal critic of apartheid.

Famous for straight-talking and his powerful oratory, Tutu is fierce in his defense of human rights and uses his high profile to fight injustive of all kinds and to combat poverty, racism, AIDS, tuberculosis, sexism, and homophobia, among many others. During the years that Nelson Mandela was in prison, Archbishop Tutu spoke out against the regime - winning the Nobel peace prize in 1984 for his efforts.He was subsequently awarded theAlbert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism (1986); the Pacem in Terris Award(1987), the Sydney Peace Prize (1999), the Gandhi Peace Prize in 2005 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom(2009).

Archbishop Tutu was handpicked by President Mandela to chair South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission and investigate the crimes committed by all sides during the apartheid regime.

In his 81^st year, "The Arch" remains a jovial, irrepressible and influential force both in South Africa and on the global political stage as the chairman of The Elders, an influential group of former world leaders, launched on Nelson Mandela's 89th birthday in 2007 with the aim of tackling some of the world's most pressing problems.

Archbishop Tutu is the latest high profile South African opinion former to feature in the youth empowerment and mentorship series.  The first series of MTV Base Meets…with MTN (2011) featured Julius Malema and Hugh Masekela.  Further thought leaders participating in Season 2 include Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, former president of Nigeria, Togolese international striker Emmanuel Adebayor, Sudanese supermodel Alek Wek and Hip Hop entrepreneur Russell Simmons.

To learn more about MTV Base Meets Archbishop Desmond Tutu with MTN, or to view clips from the series, please go to www.mtvmeets.com or www.mtvmeets.mobi.  Connect with the campaign on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/MTVMEETS or join the conversation on Twitter at #MTVMEETS.