Culture Minister Olivia Grange has paid tribute to the late Archbishop of South Africa and 1994 Nobel Peace Awardee Desmond Tutu, who died yesterday (December 26) in Cape Town, South Africa at age 90.

“He was widely regarded for his anti-Apartheid and human rights activism. Archbishop Tutu was first ordained as an Anglican Priest in the year of Jamaica’s independence, 1962, and later became the first Black Bishop of Johannesburg in 1985,” Grange said.

“He was also ordained the first Black Archbishop of Cape Town in 1986. His strong stance against the Apartheid regime in South Africa was admired by Jamaicans at home and in the Diaspora. Indeed, our Reggae artistes saluted his name on many tracks in much the same way that Eddie Grant did the single Gimme Hope Jo’anna’in 1988.”

The Archbishop visited Jamaica in 1986 at the request of the late, former Prime Minister Edward Seaga.

Grange said that she clearly “recalled when the British Government was staging the Commonwealth Games in Scotland in July 1986, Mr Seaga took the decision to have Jamaica boycott the games to register its frustration with their refusal to impose sanctions on South Africa. He also invited the Archbishop and his family to Jamaica in August of that year, and presented him with an honorary Order of Jamaica (OJ) in recognition of his anti-Apartheid work”. ‘

During that visit, Archbishop Tutu paid a courtesy call on the Governor General where he acknowledged Jamaica’s staunch support for the Anti-Apartheid movement and wrote in the Visitor’s Book “Thanking you for warm generosity and graciousness in inviting us to Jamaica and for your commitment and support to our struggle for justice and peace”.

He also laid a floral tribute to Jamaica’s first National Hero, the Rt Excellent Marcus Garvey ay National Heroes’ Park, on the occasion of the Hero’s 99th birthday.

In 1996, former President of South Africa, the late Nelson Mandela, appointed the Archbishop to Chair South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). This body publicly aired the many atrocities committed against the Black population of South Africa, during the Apartheid era. To his credit, the Archbishop was careful to use the Commission as a tool of restorative justice, rather than a motive for retaliation.

Among his many international accolades, which included more than 100 honorary Degrees, Archbishop Tutu was awarded the South African Order for Meritorious Service (OMSG), and in 2015, Queen Elizabeth II bestowed on him the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH). He was the author of seven collections of sermons and writings including The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World, which he co-authored with the 14th Dalai Lama in 2016.

Grange concluded: “His anti-Apartheid advocacy was also complemented by his work to fight discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS and the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and I pay tribute to him as a fearless voice against injustice the world over, who, in the tradition of Bob Marley ‘neither could be bought nor sold’.”