Archbishop Desmond Tutu does have his moments of faulted wisdom, for example his suggestions that white South Africans should pay extra tax to make up for apartheid. However, more often than not the man speaks a very wise truth.
Recently Tutu has highlighted the issue of the government refusing to issue a visa to the Dali Lama so that he could attend Tutu’s 80th birthday celebration. The reasons for the refusal of the visa are not clear, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why the ANC wants to keep the Dali Lama out. Tutu stated at a press conference today that South Africans will pray for the downfall of the ANC like they did with the apartheid government. Tutu repeatedly told ANC leaders to "watch out" and warned them about becoming too complacent after winning every election since 1994 with large majorities. He indicated they could face the fate of Arab dictatorships. "The Nationalists had a huge majority. They ate dust," Tutu said while shaking his finger.
China and the Dali Lama are not friends, and have exiled him as they accuse him and his followers of advocating Tibetan secession, despite repeated assurances from the Buddhist leader that he only seeks to establish autonomy, rather than independence, for Tibet. Why should this affect South Africa though? Simply put, China is South Africa’s biggest trade partner, and the ANC government has caved to Chinese pressure. China openly discourages foreign leaders from hosting the Dali Lama. Political analyst Steven Friedman said “We are going to be seen as a country who lets China tell us what to do because we want their money. That's going to hurt us because it will cut off other opportunities if we're seen around the world as a country which does whatever people with money tell us to.”
The idea that international trading relations would be made or broken by receiving the Dalai Lama shows a total misunderstanding of the way the world works. United States President Barack Obama clearly understood this when he received the Dalai Lama at the White House in July in defiance of China's stance on Tibet. China invests in Africa because it has important economic and strategic relationships here. Our relationship does not hinge on whether we grant entrance to the Dalai Lama or not. South Africans should be really worried that they have people in positions of authority who think it is the way it works.
Not surprisingly, Government spokesman Jimmy Manyi declined to comment...
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