In the second half of the 20th century one action taken by both Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu was (1) protesting against apartheid in South Africa. Nelson Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician, philanthropist who served as President of South Africa. Desmond Tutu is a South African social rights activist and retired Anglican bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980's as an opponent of apartheid. Apartheid was a system of racial segregation in South Africa enforced through legislation.