IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi will ask the Constitutional Court to force the government to grant the Dalai Lama a visa, after the High Court in Cape Town rejected an urgent application in this regard on Thursday.

Buthelezi said he had to contest the ruling to repair the damage done to South Africa last month by barring the Buddhist leader from a peace conference linked to the 2010 Soccer World Cup, to appease China.

"To remove from the domestic and international image of our democracy the infamy which now tarnishes it ... I have given instructions to my lawyers to bring the matter to the Constitutional Court," he said.

Earlier, Judge Rosheni Allie found that the matter was not urgent since the peace conference to which the Dalai Lama and other Nobel laureates were invited, had been cancelled.

While angry supporters of the Dalai Lama staged a protest outside court, Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula welcomed the decision, telling reporters in Johannesburg: "Obviously I'm happy. A visa is a privilege, not a right."

She insisted that the Dalai Lama, whose foreign visits routinely see host nations incur China's wrath, never applied for a visa to South Africa.

"People should have done a bit of homework to see if there had ever been an application. The department did not receive a formal visa application from the Dalai Lama."

In court, Buthelezi's lawyer submitted papers seeking to refute the government's claims on the visa application.

The issue of application forms

Advocate Anton Katz argued in his written submissions that a letter from the representative of the Dalai Lama in New Delhi, Tempa Tsering, "explicitly states that filled-in visa application forms were filed with the High Commission in India, but Tempa was told to take them back".

However, Allie declined to hear argument on that point, saying it pertained to the merit of the case.

She ruled that Katz and the South African Friends of Tibet, who were admitted as a friend of the court, had failed to show that the alleged violation of human rights demanded an urgent remedy and struck the application from the roll.

Katz had argued that denying the Dalai Lama entry to South Africa violated the right to freedom of expression of his client and all other South Africans, by denying them the chance to hear the spiritual leader. He wanted the ministry of home affairs' actions to be declared unconstitutional and invalid.

Counsel for the Friends of Tibet, Max du Plessis, stated in his submissions that the decision to refuse the Dalai Lama entry "was manifestly driven" by a desire to appease Beijing.

"The decision to reject, or refuse to accept, the Dalai Lama's visa application was a naked politically-motivated decision which contravenes rights in the Bill of Rights, undermines the rule of law and has no legislative basis."

The government's explanation

The government initially explained its refusal to allow the Dalai Lama to attend the peace conference by saying his presence risked seeing politics overshadow sport.

But it finally conceded it had barred him so as not to upset its trading partner China, who has branded him a "dangerous separatist" for his struggle for cultural autonomy for Tibet.

The peace conference was indefinitely postponed as other guests, including Desmond Tutu and FW de Klerk, pulled out in protest.

The furore grew as Health Minister Barbara Hogan branded the government's decision shameful, while Finance Minister Trevor Manuel and presidential frontrunner Jacob Zuma sought to justify it.

Supporters of the Dalai Lama who attended the Cape Town court hearing on Thursday sharply criticised the ruling.

Writer David Robert Lewis, a member of the Friends of Tibet, said it showed disregard for the right to religious freedom.

"It's a travesty of justice and a sad indictment of our justice system. So if I'm a Catholic, I'm not allowed to see the Pope because Jacob Zuma says so? Who the f**k is Jacob Zuma?" he said.

University of Cape Town student Ruan Ralph said it was "silly" to say the Dalai Lama needed a particular reason to come to South Africa.

"It's like saying my grandmother needs a reason to come to visit me."