Cape Town - President Jacob Zuma has weighed in on the political tit-for-tat that has erupted over the cancellation of the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Cape Town, accusing Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille of making “inaccurate and misleading” claims.
And Western Cape ANC leader Marius Fransman has called on De Lille to “apologise for your lies”.
But De Lille remained unmoved in the face of the high-level attacks, reiterating late on Friday that city authorities were “deeply angry and greatly disappointed that Cape Town will no longer be able to host the event”.
Rome was being considered as an alternative venue, she said, and Cape Town had already lost R255 000 in its preparations for the summit.
The cancellation of what would have been the largest gathering of peace laureates and associated organisations came after laureates announced they would boycott the event because the Dalai Lama would not attend.
De Lille made the announcement on Thursday at a joint press conference with Nobel peace laureate FW de Klerk, during which they blamed the national government for bowing to Chinese pressure when it allegedly denied the Dalai Lama an entry visa.
The Dalai Lama is the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader who has campaigned for his country’s independence from China since the late 1950s.
The Dalai Lama said he would not attend the summit as the South African government had refused him a visa, a claim the government denies.
On Friday the president’s office said in a statement that Zuma took “strong exception to the attack on the South African government” by De Lille.
Zuma’s spokesman Mac Maharaj said De Lille’s accusation that the government had denied the Dalai Lama a visa was “inaccurate and misleading”.
“The South African government was informed by the office of the Dalai Lama that he will not be attending the summit, thus effectively cancelling his visa application,” said Maharaj.
“We take strong exception to the utterances of the mayor of Cape Town which have cast aspersions on the integrity of the South African government and the country.”
Fransman accused De Lille of “abusing her government office to run a petty party political campaign on the back of the exiled Dalai Lama”.
“The DA and De Lille cooked up a stink for party political gains around the Dalai Lama,” he said.
But DA federal chairman Wilmot James said:
“It has to do with the fact that a visa has been denied to the Dalai Lama, who stands for peace and co-existence. It is a great concern for us that government is in the pocket of the Chinese government.”
Meanwhile
Clayson Monyela, spokesman for the Department of International Relations and Co-operation, said the government had the Dalai Lama’s “written confirmation, cancelling his trip to South Africa”. “The mayor (De Lille) is lying.”
Monyela also denied the government’s foreign policy was influenced by China.
“That is an insult to the independence of our foreign policy…
“Nobody influences our foreign policy,” he said.
Fransman said: “The City of Cape Town disregarded national cabinet instructions to submit an application for approval when such events are staged.”
On Thursday the Dalai Lama reportedly accused the South African government of “bullying a simple person”.
News outlet AFP reported that the Dalai Lama said the summit had been cancelled “as the South African government wouldn’t allow me to attend it”.
Councillor Garreth Bloor, mayoral committee member for tourism, events and economic development, said:
“We have lost a massive economic opportunity of an estimated R60-million through visitor spend and in terms of the valuable international exposure.”
Weekend Argus