information:highlighting, structural:scholar_edition
Bishop of Johannesburg: 1985–1986

After Timothy Bavin retired as Bishop of Johannesburg, Tutu was among five replacement candidates. An elective assembly met at St Barnabas' College in October 1984 and although Tutu was one of the two most popular candidates, the white laity voting bloc consistently voted against his candidature. To break deadlock, a bishops' synod met and decided to appoint Tutu. Black Anglicans celebrated, although many white Anglicans were angry; some withdrew their diocesan quota in protest. Tutu was enthroned as the sixth Bishop of Johannesburg in St Mary's Cathedral in February 1985. The first black man to hold the role, he took over the country's largest diocese, comprising 102 parishes and 300,000 parishioners, approximately 80% of whom were black. In his inaugural sermon, Tutu called on the international community to introduce economic sanctions against South Africa unless apartheid was not being dismantled within 18 to 24 months. He sought to reassure white South Africans that he was not the "horrid ogre" some feared; as bishop he spent much time wooing the support of white Anglicans in his diocese, and resigned as patron of the UDF.

I have no hope of real change from this government unless they are forced. We face a catastrophe in this land and only the action of the international community by applying pressure can save us. Our children are dying. Our land is bleeding and burning and so I call the international community to apply punitive sanctions against this government to help us establish a new South Africa – non-racial, democratic, participatory and just. This is a non-violent strategy to help us do so. There is a great deal of goodwill still in our country between the races. Let us not be so wanton in destroying it. We can live together as one people, one family, black and white together.

— Desmond Tutu, 1985

The mid-1980s saw growing clashes between black youths and the security services; Tutu was invited to speak at many of the funerals of those youths killed. At a Duduza funeral, he intervened to stop the crowd from killing a black man accused of being a government informant. Tutu angered some black South Africans by speaking against the torture and killing of suspected collaborators. For these militants, Tutu's calls for non-violence were perceived as an obstacle to revolution. When Tutu accompanied the US politician Ted Kennedy on the latter's visit to South Africa in January 1985, he was angered that protesters from the Azanian People's Organisation (AZAPO)—who regarded Kennedy as an agent of capitalism and American imperialism —disrupted proceedings.

Amid the violence, the ANC called on supporters to make South Africa " ungovernable "; foreign companies increasingly disinvested in the country and the South African rand reached a record low. In July 1985, Botha declared a state of emergency in 36 magisterial districts, suspending civil liberties and giving the security services additional powers; he rebuffed Tutu's offer to serve as a go-between for the government and leading black organisations. Tutu continued protesting; in April 1985, he led a small march of clergy through Johannesburg to protest the arrest of Geoff Moselane. In October 1985, he backed the National Initiative for Reconciliation's proposal for people to refrain from work for a day of prayer, fasting, and mourning. He also proposed a national strike against apartheid, angering trade unions whom he had not consulted beforehand.

Tutu continued promoting his cause abroad. In May 1985 he embarked on a speaking tour of the United States, and in October 1985 addressed the political committee of the United Nations General Assembly, urging the international community to impose sanctions on South Africa if apartheid was not dismantled within six months. Proceeding to the United Kingdom, he met with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. He also formed a Bishop Tutu Scholarship Fund to financially assist South African students living in exile. He returned to the US in May 1986, and in August 1986 visited Japan, China, and Jamaica to promote sanctions. Given that most senior anti-apartheid activists were imprisoned, Mandela referred to Tutu as "public enemy number one for the powers that be".