South Africa's retired archbishop and anti-apartheid icon Desmond Tutu was hospitalised in Cape Town on Thursday for "a series of tests", his office said.

"The Archbishop was in good spirits after settling into his ward. He hopes to be back home in a few days," said a statement released by his office.

The Nobel Peace laureate who turns 87 in ten days, was last admitted to hospital in September 2016 when he underwent minor surgery.

During that year, he was hospitalised four times for a persistent infection that his foundation said was a consequence of the prostate cancer treatment

Tutu has been receiving for nearly two decades.

He was also hospitalised in 2015 over an infection, which was also a result of the prostate cancer treatment.

The much-loved former archbishop of Cape Town gained worldwide prominence for his strong opposition to white-minority rule in South Africa.

He won the Nobel Peace Price in 1984.