Tributes from around the world are being paid to South African activist, humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu, who died on Sunday aged 90.
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta praised Tutu for being a “champion for human rights and equality”.
“Kua hinga te tōtara i te wao nui a Tāne, no reira e te kaihāpai o te tika e te rangatira e Au te moe,” she wrote in a tweet.
“A leader and inspiration for generations. New Zealand expresses its condolences to the people of South Africa.”
Labour MP Gaurav Sharma recalled an anecdote of his meeting with Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama.
“I had taken a book written by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama to sign. Halfway through our conversations the Dalai Lama stopped for a moment and opened the book to show me a photograph of Archbishop Desmond Tutu holding [the] Dalai Lama's face,” Sharma tweeted.
“He narrated a funny anecdote about their friendship and how close they were, as well as his admiration for Tutu.
“While I never had the pleasure of meeting the Archbishop, his commentary in Book of Joy leaves a treasure trove for our generation on how to fight anger, fear and hatred internally as much as externally to bring lasting happiness in a changing world.”
The Dalai Lama said he cherished his spiritual bond and friendship with Tutu.
“Archbishop Desmond Tutu was entirely dedicated to serving his brothers and sisters for the greater common good.
"He was a true humanitarian and a committed advocate of human rights.”
The Queen, in a tweet on the royal family’s account, wrote she remembered her meetings with Tutu “with fondness”, and that he had “great warmth and humour”.
“Archbishop Tutu’s loss will be felt by the people of South Africa, and by so many people in Great Britain, Northern Ireland and across the Commonwealth, where he was held in such high affection and esteem.”
Former US President Barack Obama called Tutu “a mentor, a friend, and a moral compass for me and so many others”.
“A universal spirit, Archbishop Tutu was grounded in the struggle for liberation and justice in his own country, but also concerned with injustice everywhere.
“He never lost his impish sense of humour and willingness to find humanity in his adversaries, and Michelle and I will miss him dearly,” Obama said.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also paid his tribute to the late human rights activist.
“He was a critical figure in the fight against apartheid and in the struggle to create a new South Africa — and will be remembered for his spiritual leadership and irrepressible good humour.”
Tutu worked passionately, tirelessly and non-violently to tear down apartheid — South Africa’s brutal, decades-long regime of oppression against its Black majority that only ended in 1994.
The buoyant, blunt-spoken clergyman used his pulpit as the first Black bishop of Johannesburg and later the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town as well as frequent public demonstrations to galvanise public opinion against racial inequity, both at home and globally.
Tutu also campaigned internationally for human rights, especially LGBT rights and same-sex marriage.
The Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 highlighted his stature as one of the world’s most effective champions for human rights, a responsibility he took seriously for the rest of his life.
Tutu died peacefully at the Oasis Frail Care Centre in Cape Town, the Archbishop Desmond Tutu Trust said on Sunday.
He had been hospitalised several times since 2015 after being diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1997.
Tutu is survived by his wife of 66 years and their four children.
Additional reporting by Associated Press.
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