Friday's planned peace conference can't be called a peace conference without the Dalai Lama, the Independent Democrats (ID) said on Sunday.

Leader Patricia de Lille said that moves not to have the Tibetan spiritual leader attend the 2010 World Cup peace conference to be held in South Africa are hypocritical.

"We in the Independent Democrats believe that by giving in to China or any other country's demands, the government is saying to the world that we do not afford other peoples the same rights we are afforded in our own Constitution," a statement from her office said.

The Dalai Lama had visited before and former president Thabo Mbeki's visit was "still fresh in our minds".

"We simply cannot call this a peace conference if the Dalai Lama is not there," she said urging the government not to take sides but to work towards peace between China and Tibet.

She was responding to a report that the Dalai Lama had not been able to get a visa to travel to South Africa for the function.

The department of foreign affairs said he had not been invited by the government, through whom all the invitations would have gone.

Spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said the decision not to invite him was taken in the best interests of the country.

"As far as the SA government is concerned, no invitation was extended to the Dalai Lama to visit South Africa," Mamoepa said. "So therefore the question of the visas doesn't exist."

He said: "Our position and approach is that we have not invited the Dalai Lama to visit SA."

An independent decision?

Mamoepa would not elaborate on his comment that it was in the best interests of the country not to invite the Dalai Lama.

Asked if the government had been asked by the Chinese government not to grant a visa, Mamoepa said: "This (the decision not to invite him) is an independent, sovereign decision."

The people invited were coming specifically for the function on how football could be used in conflict resolution, he explained.

He had only seen the media reports that the Chinese government had exerted pressure on South Africa.

"I am not aware of any approach by the Chinese," he said.

A report in the Sunday Independent newspaper quoted Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, who is in California, saying he had written to President Kgalema Motlanthe asking for an explanation.

"If His Holiness's visa is refused, then I won't take part in the coming 2010 World Cup-related peace conference," Tutu said.

"I will condemn government's behaviour as disgraceful, in line with our country's abysmal record at the United Nations Security Council, a total betrayal of our struggle history.

"We are shamelessly succumbing to Chinese pressure. I feel deeply distressed and ashamed."

The Dalai Lama had been invited by his three fellow South African Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, former presidents Nelson Mandela and FW De Klerk, and Tutu.

Dave Steward, spokesperson for the FW De Klerk Foundation, told the Sunday Independent: "There is no reason why the Dalai Lama, who is recognised as a champion of peace, and as a Nobel Laureate, should be denied entry into South Africa.

"South Africa should not allow any country to dictate who it should and should not allow to visit."

The newspaper wrote that the Dalai Lama, who is honorary co-chairperson of the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre, was denied travel documents on 4 March and asked to postpone the trip amid opposition from the Chinese government.

South Africa's strong ties to China

It reported that South Africa is one of China's key trade partners in Africa, accounting for 20.8 percent of China's trade with the continent. Chinese foreign direct investment in South Africa is around R60-billion. South Africa's foreign direct investment in China is about R20-billion.

Dai Bing, ministerial counsellor at the Chinese embassy in Pretoria, told the newspaper his government had appealed to the South African government not to allow the Dalai Lama into the country, warning that if it did so, this would harm bilateral relations.

The Dalai Lama was invited to speak at the conference, whose line-up includes the Nobel Peace Prize committee from Norway and actors Charlize Theron and Morgan Freeman.

In a statement on Sunday, Democratic Alliance foreign affairs spokesperson Tony Leon said he was shocked and disappointed by the decision.

"With South Africa having just concluded its Human Rights Day celebrations, it beggars belief that our government would go out of its way to block the Dalai Lama — an apostle of peace, who is revered throughout the world for his unwavering commitment to non-violence, human rights and cultural freedom — from entering the country," Leon said.

"This decision, reportedly taken at the behest of the Chinese government, flies in the face of all logic, and suggests that — contrary to popular belief — South Africa's foreign policy is not determined internally and independently, but rather on the instruction of foreign governments."

The Dalai Lama has visited South Africa twice before. In 1999 he took part in the World Parliament of Religions and met then President Thabo Mbeki.

However, a row broke out after Mbeki agreed to see the Dalai Lama again separately. The Chinese government protested and Mbeki cancelled the meeting.

In 2004 the Dalai Lama again visited South Africa as a guest of the African Cultural Heritage Trust.

Sapa