The man who coined the phrase "the Rainbow Nation" and was affectionately known as "the Arch" has been fighting prostate cancer for roughly two decades, and tragically passed away at the age of 90 on Sunday, the 26th December 2021.

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu dedicated his life through his faith to the advancement of human rights and remains a pillar of the constitutional democracy we have built in South Africa.  Following years of activism against the repression of the Apartheid regime, Tutu was an icon for many black South Africans, a status rivalled only by the Former President Nelson Mandela during the 1980s. In August 1983, he became a patron of the new anti-apartheid United Democratic Front (UDF).  In 1984, Tutu embarked on a three-month sabbatical at the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church in New York, where he was invited to address the United Nations Security Council. He was also invited to the White House, where he unsuccessfully urged President Ronald Reagan to change his collaborative approach to Apartheid South Africa.

In New York, Tutu was informed that he had won the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize. He shared the $192,000 prize money with his family, SACC staff, and a scholarship fund for South Africans in exile, at the time he was the second South African to receive the award, after Dr. Albert Luthuli in 1960, and prior to his passing, was the last surviving South African Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.  
In 1995, Nelson Mandela, then President of South Africa, appointed Archbishop Desmond Tutu as the Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). The TRC received more than 22,000 statements from victims and held public hearings at which victims gave testimony about gross violations of human rights, defined in the Act as torture, killings, disappearances and abductions, and severe ill treatment suffered at the hands of the Apartheid State. The TRC received more than 7,000 amnesty applications, held more than 2,500 amnesty hearings, and granted 1,500 amnesties for thousands of crimes committed during the apartheid years.

In October 1994, Tutu announced his intention to retire as archbishop in 1996. Although retired archbishops normally return to the position of bishop, the other bishops bestowed on him a new title, "Archbishop Emeritus". A farewell ceremony was held at St George's Cathedral in June 1996, attended by senior politicians and at the ceremony former President Nelson Mandela awarded Tutu the Order for Meritorious Service, South Africa's highest honour.

In January 1997, Tutu was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Post-apartheid, Tutu's status as a gay rights activist kept him in the public eye more than any other issue facing the Anglican Church. Tutu regarded discrimination against persons in same-sex relationships as being the equivalent to discrimination against black people and women. Tutu also spoke out on the need to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic, in June 2003 stating that "Apartheid tried to destroy our people and apartheid failed. If we don't act against HIV-AIDS, it may succeed, for it is already decimating our population".

In October 2010, Tutu announced his retirement from public life so that he could spend more time "at home with my family – reading and writing and praying and thinking". Despite this announcement, the Archbishop Emeritus remained in the public discourse and maintained an interest in social issues. In July 2014, he came out in support of legalised assisted dying, later stating that he would want that option open to him personally. In December 2015, Tutu's daughter, Mpho Tutu, married a woman in the Netherlands. Tutu attended and offered a blessing, despite Anglican opposition to same-sex marriage.

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu fought for equality, an equality which gives true meaning to all the rights enshrined within the Chapter Two of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights. He was the embodiment of what a commitment to human rights is and sets an example we all could only aspire towards.  The Commission shares its deepest and most sincere condolences with his family, friends, the nation and the world. May his soul rest in eternal peace.

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Issued by the South African Human Rights Commission
Gushwell Brooks – Communications Co-ordinator Tel: 082 645 8573 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.