Peace icon Desmond Tutu has been discharged from a South African hospital after he was successfully treated for a persistent infection with no new cancer scare, his foundation said Monday.

The 81-year-old retired archbishop, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1997, checked into hospital five days ago for tests and treatment for a persistent infection.

Tutu was discharged "following successful treatment of a persistent infection", the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation said in a statement, without disclosing when he was released.

"A battery of tests to determine the underlying cause of the infection, and its persistency, uncovered no new malignancy. Management of the archbishop's prostate cancer will continue," it added.

Tutu will now spend some time at his Cape Town home.

"The archbishop will be spending some quiet time at home in Cape Town to recover his sparkle," said the statement.

Under apartheid, Tutu campaigned against white minority rule during the years that Nelson Mandela was imprisoned and was awarded the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize for his work.