Archbishop Desmond Tutu yesterday announced he was retiring from public life after decades at the forefront of the struggle against apartheid and injustice around the world.

"I have done as much as I can and need time to do things I have really wanted to do. I do want a little more quiet," the Nobel laureate told a press conference at St George's Cathedral in Cape Town.

"On October 7, I turn 79 years old, and withdraw from public life," he said.

"Instead of growing old gracefully, at home with my family - reading and writing and praying and thinking - too much of my time has been spent at airports and in hotels," he said.

"The time has now come to slow down, to sip Rooibos tea with my beloved wife in the afternoons, to watch cricket, to travel to visit my children and grandchildren, rather than to conferences and conventions and university campuses."

"As Madiba said on his retirement: Don't call me; I'll call you," Archbishop Tutu added, calling Nelson Mandela by his clan name.

He said, however, that he would continue to work with The Elders, a group of statesmen brought together by Mr Mandela to use their influence to support peace efforts.

"My involvement with the Elders and Nobel Laureate Group will continue, as will my support for the development of the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre in Cape Town," he said.

The centre, established in 1998 by Archbishop Tutu and his wife, said it would honour the archbishop through the development of the centre, including building a new complex in Cape Town to house its programmes to promote peace.

"We are now more determined than ever to ensure that his legacy and the legacy of peace makers globally are honoured through the development of the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre," said Nomfundo Walaza, the centre's CEO.

Opposition leader Helen Zille hailed Tutu as "a voice of reason in times of trouble".

Archbishop Tutu won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his non-violent struggle against apartheid, establishing himself as the voice of the nation's conscience.

In the years since, he proved indefatigable in leading the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to uncover the horrors of apartheid-era abuses.

He never shied away from shining a spotlight on modern South Africa's failings, while traveling the globe to promote peace efforts from the Middle East to the distant Solomon Islands.