Ire peaks over failed summit

Useless. Despicable. Bullies. Spineless. These are some of the words used to describe the government yesterday as international outrage over the ill-fated Peace Summit debacle grew.

Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille confirmed yesterday that the summit, due to be held later this month, would not go ahead after six Nobel laureates pulled out due to South Africa's refusal to grant a visa to the Dalai Lama.

"It is because of their despicable behaviour by not granting the Dalai Lama a visa that we are where we are today," said De Lille.

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu lashed out at the government. "I am ashamed to call this lickspittle bunch my government," he said.

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

Former president FW de Klerk said that under the leadership of former presidents Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki, South Africans had been able to hold their heads high in the international community, but that was no longer the case.

"In the steady continuum of decline since 2008, the suspension of the Cape Town summit may be seen by future historians as the point at which South Africa finally lost its claim to represent something special in Africa," said the Nobel peace laureate.

Department of International Relations and Cooperation spokes-man Clayson Monyela said yesterday that the government had not denied the Tibetan spiritual leader a visa.

"There was an application from the Dalai Lama. While that application was undergoing process, we received a written confirmation that he was cancelling his trip to South Africa," he said.