Tutu és Fokváros polgármestere Zumát hibáztatják hogy a Nobel-csúcstalálkozó nem Dél-Afrikában lesz megtartva

2014. október 3./Phayul.com/TibetPress

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DHARAMSHALA, October 3: Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a close friend of the Dalai Lama and whose foundation is among the organizers of the 14th Nobel Summit in Cape town, has hit out at the South African government headed by Jacob Zuma for “kowtowing” to China in refusing visa to the Tibetan leader.

Tutu said he was "ashamed to call this lickspittle bunch my government".

The summit, which now stand postponed as a new city is being finalized, was meant to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the end of apartheid and the legacy of the late president and Nobel peace prize winner, Nelson Mandela.

Iranian Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi said on Wednesday that she was surprised by Tutu's silence over the visa row. His daughter, Mpho, clarified that her father had remained silent over the visa issue because he believed others might have better success after a previous unsuccessful run-in with the government over the same issue in 2011.

"When His Holiness was prevented by our government from attending my 80th birthday [in 2011] I condemned that kowtowing to the Chinese roundly and reminded the ANC government that it did not represent me," Tutu said.

"I warned them then that just as we had prayed for the downfall of the apartheid government so we would pray for the demise of a government that could be so spineless."

Tutu said Mandela's own kin in the ruling ANC government under Zuma have spat on his face. "The Nobel Summit in Cape Town, the first to be held on our continent, was meant to celebrate Madiba. His own comrades have spat in his face, refusing to see him honoured by the holders of the blue ribbon of awards and honours."

The mayoral office of Cape Town said Thursday in a statement that the majority of Nobel Laureates and Laureate institutions requested that either the summit be moved to another country, or that the visa to His Holiness the Dalai Lama be granted unconditionally. “Given the continued intransigence of the South African Government on this matter, this eventuality appears unlikely at best,” Patricia de Lille, the mayor of Cape Town.

It said the South African government has undermined South Africa’s international standing and embarrassed the country.

“President Zuma’s government has shamed the legacy of Madiba and it is now more clear than ever that South Africa under President Zuma has lost its moral compass and will do anything to appease the Chinese Government, which is a significant supporter of the ANC,” said Lille.

The mayor, however, said the summit itself has not been cancelled. “Rather, it will continue in association with the City of Cape Town in an alternative host city,”