Dalai Lama invited to deliver a public lecture at the University of the Witwatersrand

By Lelethu Mquqo
2 October 2011

Tibet's Dalai Lama has been invited to deliver a public lecture at the University of the Witwatersrand on the 12th of this month.

The university says he will address students, staff members, guests and the media on non-violence in the new century.

This would be his second visit to Wits in the past 10 years, subject to him being granted a visa by the South African government.

In the event of a visa not being secured by the Dalai Lama, inspirational speakers will lead conversation and an on-screen presentation of his inspirational words.

The visa matter has been in the spotlight since Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu invited his fellow Nobel Prize Laureate to attend his 80th birthday this week.

Civil rights groups, including Tutu's Peace Centre, have launched a campaign to pressure government into granting the visa and will hold a night vigil tomorrow.