02. Apr 2009
South Africa did deny a visa to the Dalai Lama
(SAPA) The Cape High Court dismissed an urgent application by the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi for the Dalai Lama to be granted a visa to visit South Africa. The court ruled the matter was not urgent since the 2010 World Cup-related peace conference for which the Dalai Lama had been invited in March 2009, had been cancelled. Buthelezi's lawyers submitted copies of the Dalai Lama's passport and his application for a South African visa to the high court after the Home Affairs department claimed that the Dalai Lama had never applied for a South African visa. Buthelezi's responding affidavit contained details from Tempa Tsering, the Dalai Lama's representative in New Delhi, who said that his staff contacted Sehlolo Moloi, the South African High Commissioner to India, on 11 February 2009 to request a visa. He said they met Moloi on 03 March.