2 OCTOBER 2014
STATEMENT BY THE CITY’S EXECUTIVE MAYOR, PATRICIA DE LILLE
14th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in South
Africa to be suspended
After extensive discussion and deliberation, it has been decided that the 2014
World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, planned for 13 – 15 October 2014 in
Cape Town, will be suspended.
The Permanent Secretariat of the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates is
currently considering the possibility of relocating the summit to an alternative
venue.
The primary reason for the relocation is the fact that the South African
Government refuses to issue a visa for His Holiness, the Dalai Lama.
This decision comes after the majority of Nobel Laureates and Laureate
institutions requested that either the summit be moved to another country, or
that the visa to His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, be granted unconditionally.
Given the continued intransigence of the South African Government on this
matter, this eventuality appears unlikely at best.
The attending Peace Laureates and Laureate institutions agreed, in the
absence of granting said visa to the Dalai Lama, to withhold their collective
attendance in protest of the decision
On 15 September 2014, 14 Peace Nobel Laureates wrote to President Jacob
Zuma urging him to grant and guarantee His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, a visa
to attend the summit. To date they have not received any reply or any
indication that the matter is receiving attention.
In light of this appalling treatment of the Dalai Lama by the South African
Government, the Permanent Secretariat had no choice but to contact the
Nobel Laureates and institutions with a view to identifying possible dates and
alternative locations so that they can participate in the Nobel Summit as they
intended.
With regard to alternative locations, the Permanent Secretariat has received
interest from various cities. This includes the City of Rome, which organised
the first seven editions of the summit and is the head office of the secretariat.
The intention at this stage is for the City of Cape Town to co-host this edition
of the summit, be it held in Rome or another host city. The summit will still be
dedicated to the memory of Nelson Mandela and will have the same theme:
Peace. Living It.
There is no doubt that the South African Government is to blame for this
situation. They have deliberately misled the public on their refusal to grant a
visa to the Dalai Lama. They have claimed that they received no application,
when it fact they made it clear to representatives of the Dalai Lama that no
such visa would be issued for his attendance at the Cape Town summit this
year.
In so doing they have undermined South Africa’s international standing and
embarrassed the country. Despite the City having written on numerous
occasions to the President, Deputy President and the Minister of International
Relations and Cooperation, we have not received any assistance from the
National Government when it came to fulfilling its international protocol and
security obligations to current and former heads of state.
It is absolutely shocking that the National Government waited until the end of
August to respond to my original correspondence on this matter sent in April.
This illustrates both their profound arrogance and unbelievable inefficiency.
The National Government has treated our requests and those of the
Laureates themselves with disdain, and in so doing showed that they are
more intent on pleasing Beijing than with ensuring that a prestigious
international event is held in South Africa, which was intended to celebrate
the late Nelson Mandela and 20 years of democracy in South Africa.
President Zuma’s government has shamed the legacy of Madiba and it is
now more clear than ever that South Africa under President Zuma has lost its
moral compass and will do anything to appease the Chinese Government,
which is a significant supporter of the ANC.
We are deeply angry and greatly disappointed that Cape Town will no
longer be able to host the event. The City of Cape Town had already
commenced event operations. As of today, a total of 584 delegates, 128
youths and 48 members of the media have registered on the event website
since it went live. The expo at the event was also fully booked, with 22
exhibitors taking up 50 exhibition slots.
The costs incurred by the City to date amount to R255 000. The City is in the
process of cancelling contracts with service providers and will provide a
report to Council once these processes are completed.
The gathering of 14 Peace Laureates and 11 Peace Laureate organisations
would have been the largest gathering of Nobel Peace Laureates in the
history of the event and would have provided invaluable international
exposure for Cape Town, which in turn would have boosted tourism and
related job-creating activities in Cape Town.
This is a huge opportunity that has been lost for Cape Town because of the
National Government’s refusal to grant a visa to the Dalai Lama. We have
also lost an economic opportunity of approximately R60 million, through visitor
spend and the value of the international exposure.
In closing, it needs to be made clear that that the summit itself has not been
cancelled. Rather, it will continue in association with the City of Cape Town in
an alternative host city.
End
Issued by: Integrated Strategic Communication and Branding Department,
City of Cape Town
Media enquiries: Zara Nicholson, Spokesperson for the Executive Mayor –
Patricia de Lille, City of Cape Town, Tel: 021 400 4998 or Cell: 079 416 5996, Email: zara.nicholson@capetown.gov.za