Cape Town - It is “disappointing” that two of South Africa’s living Nobel Peace laureates – Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and former president FW de Klerk – will not be in Rome this weekend for the 14th World Summit, says Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille.
Instead of welcoming international delegates and 20-odd laureates to Cape Town, De Lille will be jetting off to Italy to act as a co-host with the mayor of Rome.
The summit will still be dedicated to the memory of Nelson Mandela with the same theme: “Peace. Living it.”
Cape Town lost the opportunity of hosting the global gathering because of the government’s refusal to grant the Dalai Lama a visa to attend. Several foreign delegates indicated that as a result they would boycott the South African event, and the city was forced to suspend its plans.
Mayoral spokeswoman Zara Nicholson said: “Hosting the Peace Summit in Cape Town would have been a great honour and a fitting tribute to Mandela’s legacy, and celebrating it.”
South Africa was also the only country in the world with four Nobel Peace laureates, and the loss of an opportunity to host this event remained a “great disappointment” and for which national government needed to be held accountable.
When De Lille announced the suspension of the event in October, she said that 14 Nobel Peace laureates had appealed to President Jacob Zuma to allow the Dalai Lama to attend the summit.
There was no response and the summit’s permanent secretariat then “had no choice” but to look for alternative dates and locations so that all its delegates could take part in the auspicious event.
The event goes ahead this weekend.
De Lille will speak at the summit and co-host one of the sessions.
Tutu has been forced to cancel all travel plans for the rest of the year as he starts a new course of medication for prostate cancer, said the Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation in a statement this week.
The octogenarian has been living with the disease for the past 15 years.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Tutu said: “Thank you everyone for your concern and prayers. You may know I cancelled my trip to Rome for the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates due to a reaction to a new treatment for my prostate and strengthening my bones. It is benign and these issues are par for the course. Much love and blessings to you all.”
De Klerk’s spokesman Dave Steward said on radio on Wednesday that the former president could not attend either, because of prior engagements.
De Klerk could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.
Nicholson said the final costs of the cancellation of the summit, which would have been the largest gathering of laureates to date, had not yet been finalised.
When the event was put on hold in October, De Lille said that 584 delegates, 128 youths and 48 media had confirmed their attendance. The expo that would have run concurrently with the event was fully booked with 22 exhibitors.
The costs incurred by the city in October were estimated to be R255 000, while the loss of “economic opportunity” through visitor spend and international exposure was put at about R60 million.
Nicholson said the final costs would be submitted to the mayor and then to the council in February.
The city had not made any financial contribution to the hosting of the summit in Rome.
Cape Argus