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South Africa denies Dalai Lama entrance arguing football is more important

Article published on the 2009-03-23 Latest update 2009-03-23 18:50 TU

Dalai Lama(Photo: Reuters)

Dalai Lama
(Photo: Reuters)

South Africa said Monday that it rejected a visa for the Dalai Lama for fear his visit would overshadow the country's preparations to host the 2010 World Cup. The Dalai Lama, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, was to attend a Johannesburg peace conference with other Nobel laureates on Friday.

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Thabo Masebe, spokesperson for South African President Kgalema Motlanthe, told RFI that the Dalai Lama's visit was not worth the distraction it would create.

Q+A: Thabo Masebe, spokesperson for the South African Presidency.

 
 

23/03/2009 by Marco Chown Oved

"The presence of the Dalai Lama in South Africa at this time may not be in the interest of our country," he said. "And we think [his] presence would actually be a diversion because wherever he travels there are issues that follow him."

The Nobel peace prize committee, based in Oslo, said it would not attend the conference in protest.

Two other laureates, former South African President Frederik Willem de Klerk and Archbisop Desmond Tutu, also withdrew from the event.

Tutu criticised the government's interests behind the decision. "We are shamelessly succumbing to Chinese pressure," he told local media. "I feel deeply distressed and ashamed."

But Masebe said that China "does not tell us how to run our country".