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 for13 - 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.

Statement issued by Patricia de Lille, Executive Mayor of the City of Cape Town, October 2 2014

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