South Africa's Tutu returns to hospital due to infection

FILE - In this July 2016 file photo, Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu takes part in a Mass to celebrate four decades of episcopal ministry at a special thanksgiving Mass at St Mary's Cathedral in Johannesburg. Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu was readmitted to a South African hospital on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016, just days after he left following three weeks of treatment there. The 84-year-old retired archbishop returned to the hospital "as a precaution after his surgical wound had shown signs of infection," a family statement quoted Tutu's wife, Leah, as saying. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell, File) (The Associated Press)

JOHANNESBURG – Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu is back in a South African hospital, just days after he left following three weeks of treatment there.

Tutu's family said Saturday that the 84-year-old retired archbishop was readmitted to the hospital as a precaution after a surgical wound showed "signs of infection."

The family says Tutu had the surgical procedure 10 days ago to counter "recurring infections resulting from past treatment received for prostate cancer."

Tutu, who has been treated for prostate cancer for many years, was hospitalized several times last year.

He was an outspoken opponent of apartheid, South Africa's former system of white minority rule, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.