No word on Dalai Lama’s visa from SA High Commission in India

By Lelethu Mquqo
3 October 2011

The Dalai Lama is yet to hear about if he has been granted a visa to South Africa.

A spokesperson for the Tibetan spiritual leader says the SA High Commission in New Delhi, India did not give them any indication of the visa before they closed for business.

The Dalai Lama has been invited to attend the 80th birthday party of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu later this week.

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation earlier said a decision on the visa would not be made public and would be communicated to the Dalai Lama in private.

Meanwhile, a candlelight vigil is expected to take place outside Parliament in Cape Town this evening.

Civil society groups are looking to pressure government into granting the Dalai Lama’s visa.

The head of the Western Cape Religious Leaders’ Forum, John Oliver, says government’s failure to grant a visa to a Nobel Laureate is an embarrassment to all South Africans.