Shame on South Africa: No Visa for Dalai Lama

What happened to the morals, values, and principles of freedom and democracy in South Africa? What happened to Nelson Mandela's promise that "human rights will be the light that guides our foreign affairs?"

The Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader and the Nobel Peace laureate, was expected to address a conference in South Africa whose aim was to discuss ways of using football to fight racism and xenophobia ahead of the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

The government of South Africa, however, refused to grant him a visa, saying the Dalai Lama's attendance would draw the world's attention from the World Cup preparations.

In reality, the South African government refused to issue visa to the Dalai Lama in order to please China, one of the country's major economic partners. The Chinese embassy in Pretoria allegedly called upon the South African government not to allow the Tibetan leader to visit the country, saying his presence at the conference would harm bilateral relations between the two nations.

The peace conference was postponed after two other Nobel Peace laureates who were expected to take part, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former South African President FW de Klerk, pulled out in protest over the visa ban for the Dalai Lama.

This is not the first time that the government of South Africa is ignoring ethics, empathy, morals, human decency, and common sense in its international relations.

As a two-year temporary member of the UN Security Council, South Africa has voted against imposing sanctions on Zimbabwe despite the unthinkable crisis and ruthless dictatorship of Robert Mugabe. While members of the opposition were being brutally killed in Zimbabwe, former South African president, Thabo Mbeki, held Mugabe's hand on TV and claimed there was no crisis in Zimbabwe whatsoever.

When the UN voted to condemn Myanmar's military junta crackdown on peaceful protesters and human rights violations, South Africa was one of the countries that blocked the resolution.

South Africa has also voted against imposing any sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, and to stop monitoring human rights in Uzbekistan and Iran, despite the widespread human rights violations in both countries.

In January 2007, South Africa was one of 22 countries absent from the UN General Assembly when a resolution was adopted to condemn Holocaust denialism. Also, the country voted against a resolution that condemned the "use of rape as a weapon of war."

When Thabo Mbeki was the president of South Africa, one of his great friends was Omar al-Bashir, the president of Sudan who was recently charged for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur since 2003. The horrific atrocities in Darfur – over 200,000 dead and millions displaced – did not prevent the government of South Africa from doing everything to delay or suspend the International Criminal Court's case against the Sudanese president.

Nelson Mandela promised that "human rights will be the light that guides our foreign affairs?" Then why Robert Mugabe and Omar al-Bashir receive warm welcomes every time they visit South Africa but the Nobel Peace laureate and the global symbol of peace, the Dalai Lama, is treated like a criminal by the South African government?

Shame on South Africa!

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Savo Heleta is the author of "Not My Turn to Die: Memoirs of a Broken Childhood in Bosnia" (March 2008, AMACOM Books, New York). He holds an Mphil degree in Conflict Transformation and Management from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Visit www.savoheleta.com for more info.