The day Mandela left office , South Africa 's president ordered its atomic arsenal dismantled . Desmond Tutu said nuclear weapons -- like apartheid -- were a blight on S. Africa 's image . It is high time for the nuclear-free nations of the world , constituting the overwhelming majority , to work together to exert their extraordinary collective influence . As president , Mandela ordered the remaining nuclear powers to also give up their weapons . Tutu says nuclear weapons and those who hold them should be stigmatized .
The day Mandela left office , South Africa 's president ordered its atomic arsenal dismantled . Desmond Tutu said nuclear weapons -- like apartheid -- were a blight on S. Africa 's image . As president , Mandela ordered the remaining nuclear powers to also give up their weapons . Tutu says nuclear weapons and those who hold them should be stigmatized .