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foundation said in a statement.
A photograph of the 81-year-old Nobel laureate showed him smiling at his office where he spent the morning, before being admitted to the undisclosed hospital.
“He was in good spirits and full of praise for the care he receives from an exceptional team of doctors,” said the statement from the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation.
“The non-surgical treatment is expected to take five days.”
Known fondly as “the Arch”, Tutu said in an earlier interview that most of his life had “been a bonus”. He survived an illness believed to be polio as a baby, battled tuberculosis as a teenager and prostrate cancer which he was diagnosed with in 1997.
His recent public appearances have shown little hint of ill-health.
Just under two weeks ago he got up to dance at the cathedral where he rallied against the apartheid state.
Officially retired, the outspoken Tutu is still seen as South Africa’s moral guide.
He has campaigned on justice and human rights issues around the globe, but has not shied away from pointing out the shortcomings of his own country — which he christened the “Rainbow Nation.”
Earlier this month, at a briefing on his US$1,7 million Templeton Prize, he urged South Africa to recover the “spirit that made it great”.
“The world was thrilled when freedom came to our land and we pray that South Africa will recover its own sense of worth, we will recover the sense of worth of every single human being,” he said.
While his causes might be serious, playfulness is never far from Tutu who is quick to crack jokes — often directed at himself — with a trademark uproarious laugh.
A thorn in the apartheid state’s side, he campaigned against white minority rule during the years that Nelson Mandela was imprisoned.
He won the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize for his work, which he said has always been motivated by religion. — AFP.
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