The only surprising thing about the news that the South African government has declined to issue a visa for the Dalai Lama to visit South Africa to attend a peace conference, is that anyone was surprised by this callous and mercenary decision. One can only be surprised by this decision if one assumes that human rights principles come in to play in the formulation of South Africa’s foreign policy.
But human rights principles have not had any role in South Africa’s foreign policy since Thabo Mbeki took over as President of South Africa in the late nineties. Our foreign policy is based on naked self-interest, power politics, a misplaced loyalty to scoundrels and the leaders of rogue nations and a wish – born out of insecurity, vengefullness and a lack of pride and self respect – to try and embarrass the United States and other Western states. In the process our foreign policy has ironically mirrored the deeply unethical and unwise foreign policy of the United States under George W Bush.
It should also not surprise us that the South African government, in dealing with the inevitable fallout of the decision not to issue a visa for the Dalai Lama, has been amateurish and confused, leaping from one explanation to the other to try and justify what it surely knows is unjustifiable. That is why Foreign Affairs and the Presidency are contradicting each other on this issue, looking like the rank amateurs they are. Real tyrants would have anticipated the outcry and would have decided on a single lie to tell the world before getting tied up in all kinds of knots.
Thus we get Foreign Affairs spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa saying on Sunday that it was in South Africa’s “best interests” not to issue the visa to the Dalai Lama, who was due to attend conference to be held on Friday and insisting that no pressure had been placed on South Africa by the Chinese government to deny the visa to the Dalai Lama. At the same time, in a move that would have pleased Thabo Mbeki, he immediately contradicted himself by making claims that were clearly not true. As the The Times reports:
“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. This is an independent, sovereign decision. I am not aware of any approach by the Chinese.” Dai Bing, ministerial counsellor at the Chinese embassy in Pretoria, said his government had appealed to the South African government not to allow the Dalai Lama into the country, warning that if it did so, it would harm bilateral relations. South Africa is one of China’s key trade partners in Africa, accounting for around 20.8 percent of China’s trade with the continent.
But today President Kgalema Motlanthe’s spokesperson Thabo Masebe seems to have changed the story a bit. The South African government does not have a problem with the Dalai Lama, he said. Then he used the oldest trick in the book to hide his misrepresentation, namely to deny what was never claimed:
“But at this time the whole world will be focused on the country as hosts of the 2010 World Cup. We want the focus to remain on South Africa. A visit now by the Dalai Lama would move the focus from South Africa onto issues in Tibet.” Masebe said China, a major trading partner of South Africa, had played no role in the government’s decision. “The decision was made by the government and not by the People’s Republic of China,” he said. “This issue is that this simply would not be in the best interests of South Africa at this stage.”
Of course, no one had claimed that the government of China had made the decision – only that it had placed pressure on the South African government, so for Masebe to deny that the decision was made by the Chinese government is laughable. It is obvious that there was pressure from China as the Chinese embassy had confirmed this. Why now try and deny the undeniable? If one is going to lie one should really try and stick as closely to the truth as possible. Not doing so and denying that which was never claimed is just amateurish.
It should be obvious to anyone with more than three brain cells (and maybe even to those with less than three brain cells, of whom many seem to work for Foreign Affairs or the Presidency) that China placed pressure on South Africa not to issue the visa, given the fact that the 60th anniversary of the uprising in Tibet is approaching and given the fact that China is a big trading partner with South Africa.
It would be far better to have an honest debate about South Africa’s foreign policy and to ask whether human rights principles should play a role in our foreign policy at all. Maybe we can dispense with this charade that we are champions of human rights across the world and just admit that we are mercenary and unprincipled and that we do not really believe in the protection of human rights – unless it can embarrass the West.
Should we vote against gay rights at the UN – as our government has done more than once – because we want to retain influence with tyrants, sexists and homophobes in the rest of Africa? Should we vote at the UN to protect murderous regimes in Sudan, Burma and Zimbabwe because we want to act like insecure bullies who can also throw its weight around and can embarrass the USA? In short, should we act like Africa’s own Republican Party-led USA government, or should we acknowledge the difficult choices to be made between respect for human rights and pragmatic foreign policy?
Our government has long since opted for the former approach and it is laughable to suggest that a concern for human rights plays ANY role in our foreign policy. Please, we are not the good guys and we have not been for at least ten years. Not that it would make a difference to ordinary South Africans or even those “principled” politicians of the South African Communist Party and Cosatu. Who cares about the abuse of human rights in other countries?
Yes, the people of many of these countries supported the struggle against apartheid – often at great financial or physical cost – and yes, without the international community apartheid would have taken a lot longer to get rid of, but hey, who cares. We are free now to steal as much money from our taxpayers as we can get away with, so stuff the rest of the world. And the Dalai Lama too. Time to make money, my China.
i cant understand the logic, having a major personality like the dalai lama to talk about peace and xenophobic issues and what football can bring to world to address these issues, who better than the dalai lama to highten the world cup here in south africa of all places?
The government simply bowed to its new masters china for money maybe these are the foreign investors and markets ozoneblue seems to be on about
The good thing about Jacob Zuma as President is that he will not attempt to draw the spotlight on himself by appointing incompetent ministers as Mbeki has done. The reason that our foreign policy is as bad as is, is because the minister of foreign affairs had to remian in Mbeki’s shadow.
Glouty // Mar 23, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Your comment does not make any sense at all… Are you saying that:
a) Zuma does not like to draw the spotlight onto himself
b) Zuma will only appoint competent ministers and
c) the newest egg to hit the ANC in the face i.e. banning the dalai lama from SA, is because of mbeki?
Last question; you start your post with ‘…The good thing about Jacob Zuma as President is that he will …’
Now, how can you be sure ‘he will’ do anything? Has he made any promises to you that he has kept? Have you any proof that this man is credible?
Indeed. SA promised so much – a bright star on the African political scene or so it seemed. No doubt the fear of the effect of the world economic crisis leads to even more indefensible foreign policy decisions, like this one but as you point out SA has made a habit of compromising itself at every term, mainly in its attempts to score points against the former colonial powers. Didnt SA align itself with the thug regime in Mynamar at the UN?
I for one absolutely love the excuse that it would draw attention away from the 2010 world cup…ironically, it’s created more of a spotlight on the DL, and in the process made us again look like the morons we are, than if we’d just given him the visa and told China to shut up. Of course, we wouldn’t have had to tell China to shut up, because they didn’t put any pressure on our morally upright and steadfast government, did they?
Oddly enough, for a government that seems to love anybody who is a struggle hero (we have streets named after Cuban revolutionaries), unless of course they were Afrikaans and fought the British (doesn’t count, cos…actually, I don’t know), this is a complete turnaround. The DL is one of the world’s most well known and loved struggle heroes – he even won a Nobel Peace Prize! But…er…oh wait, if we give him a visa, and China’s non-existent threat to our current relationship with them comes to pass, we might start to see some of those lucrative tender contracts disappear…and then our poor government ministers may actually have to live on their salaries, and not the spoils of BEE in it’s purest form. Can’t have that now, can we?
Although, yet again (as PdV points out), not surprising in the least…after all, we are the country that vetoed (or at least voted against – can’t quite recall) including rape in the definition of war crimes (couldn’t have all our wonderful African brothers hauled up for that before the ICC), and the country who is defending those other bastions of human rights in Sudan and Zimbabwe. No surprises at all here.
The only surprising thing is how quickly our formerly oppressed government members have forgotten what it’s like to be oppressed, and what the world (including those horrible “western powers”) did for them not so long ago. This post-liberation period will go down as a blight on South Africa when our history is written, make no mistake. Disgusting.
Moral cowardice of the worst kind.
I wonder whether there were any sporting or other events and activities around the world at which opponents of apartheid used the occasion to highlight the injustices of the apartheid regime.
I wonder whether any of this detracted from the focus of those events, and whether foreign governments banned anti-apartheid activists from spoiling their precious occasions…
Its the Dalai Lama come on its just as bad as saying sorry Jesus you not allowed in our country cos the chines said so.
Interesting that we were recently informed that China is a major funder of the ANC’s 2009 electoral campaign.
Voyo – This just goes to show that good diplomatic relations depend on who is footing the bill.
vuyo what im finding amazing here is pikoli is sacked for national security, yet the ANC is obviously compromises South Africa’s national security….this is already starting to show serious interference, when does a country dictate to who should be allowed in and out of south africa?
Simply put the ANC is trying to buy its 2/3 majority with foreign donations comes more kickbacks and more corruption
Zuma isnt even president yet but has already failed, he plans to root out corruption but yet is happly accepting donations from foreign powers who will be awarded tenders, kickbacks and an influence in parlament.
Zuma says crime is high up on the list but the anc plans to only release crime statistics every 2 yrs instead of every month
Zuma sings songs about the struggle times and every anc supporter shouts out about the struggle the revolution the heros of oppression bring but yet when welcoming possibly one of the most loved struggle and freedom fighter to have existed in modern times. you turn your back and claim that person is a threat to soccer? a threat to soccer??
You find Zuma in Rhema Church and other church institutes but wont be caught dead with the Dalai Lama? all because of football and the chines say so?
where is your balls, sorry but this had to be said, i view the dalai lama as the same level as jesus christ, a spritial being who fights for freedom without weapons but with love and words.
ANC you have just become the laughing stock of the world and the biggest hypocrites about struggle fighting….your words are simply hollow now….the world cup isnt even here yet but you have already placed in a negative light, so much for sticking to the constitution that all are welcome and all are equal and will not be discriminated against, you sold that for money, how cheap are you? how cheap is Zuma?
I used to think Mbeki was the only one with a chameleonic foreign policy…! I now see that this may in fact be pathological in ANC.
mili // Mar 23, 2009 at 4:45 pm
The foreign policy we see here are reminisce of the Mbeki administration, given the fact that the minister was appointed by Mbeki. We know with Mbeki, he had a hard on for the world stage. This can be assumed if we count how often he was abroad as apposed to in the country.
The current foreign minister can hardly be described as a diplomat if one is to look at her general demeanour, and the she not contributed anything substantial to South Africa’s foreign policy. It is for this reason that we have many contradictions in our foreign policy that does not seem to be geared towards strategy or big picture but seems to be the whims of whoever is dealing with the issue.
I contend that the reason for this is because, Mbeki appointed someone incompetent that he could overshadow. This resulted in our foreign policy been nothing short of pathetic.
Zuma, if he tries to fail, he will do better than Mbeki. He also has not showed any signs of being a one man show. He is not government yet, so we must give him a chance as to whether or not he will make a good president, his legal worries aside.
Glouty // Mar 24, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Strange posting, Glouty. The ANC was capable of dismissing Mbeki and “redeploying” Manto, Rasool, Nqakula, etc, based on their assessment of their performance, etc. They have not dismissed anyone associated with Mbeki in the foreign affairs department ergo they agree with our foreign policy direction. It therefore boggles the mind (at least my mind) how you can sustainably suggest that South African foreign policy decisions are Mbeki decisions! Glouty, you are well entitled to despise Thabo Mbeki. You are well entitled to despise every single measure that he took as head state. You are however advised that Thabo Mbeki is no longer president of South Africa and that government decisions are therefore in the ultimate charge of the president of South Africa, one Kgalema Motlante, and the governing party, the ANC. Like the apartheid-card, the Mbeki-card is no longer an adequate excuse for successes nor for any failures of government.
Vuyo // Mar 24, 2009 at 1:32 pm
Vuyo, you seem to get me wrong.
I am in no way absolving the government and by extension the ANC of any wrongfulness on their part. I am not saying that the current ANC disagrees with the current foreign policy. As you have correctly pointed out, if they did, they would have gotten rid of the foreign affairs minister as they did with certain premiers, etc.
What I am saying is Mbeki’s ten (or nine) years as President is the cause of the disaster. The fact that the current ANC or presidency did not take steps thus far to mend this disaster is another story.
Note that not even Ozoneblue or Khosi , who are the champions of defending the indefensible, have found words/guts/gall to defend the latest.
Vuyo // Mar 24, 2009 at 1:32 pm
Vuyo, once again, I am with you on this one. I simply cannot understand how the likes of Glouty can go around apportining everything undesirable to them to TM. Just like some people seem to passionately hate JZ, it seems there are still those who still have this passion for TM, months after he resigned.
In my view, this whole thing just proves that it is a misrepresentation of facts to refer to some policy decisions as TM’s policies (invariably, whenever it’s a bad decision). The fact of the matter is that the policies are decided upon by the ANC, which happens to be the ruling party.
Tatera,
Do not be too optimistic with regards to Khosi and Ozoneblue. They may just be victims of the taxi strike…or better still, part of the strike or even part of the ANC team campaigning at the demos. They may strike with their usual venom as soon as order returns to the taxi scene!
When Jesse Owens won gold at the 1936 Olymics, one Adolf Hitler didn’t want to congratulate him, cause he was black, but I think to deny the Dalai Lama access to visit SA is worse. I hope the minister of home affairs gets hemeroids.
I am glad these things are exposed now ,the likes of glouty & ozoneblue i hope they get a preview of what our country will turn into with JZ administration.
what i find extremely funny is that all the wrong things in this past 10 years is placed at Thabo Mbeki`s door
what were the others cabinet members doing ? too afraid to say anything? lest they loose their perks?
could the same be said about the incoming ones?
are these the right type of people we want in Parly?
who will vote the scorpions out just because the party said so?the anc is clearly not ready to govern !!
Indeed Lebogang, but now the ANC needs to be voted out of power, because the country cannot afford another 4 years of damage.
The Nort West University has 14 days straight to register 10 000 full time students who wants to study there in the beginning of each year and students could register the previous year via online registration where ever they are.
The Comrades marathon gives athletes +- 14000 max about 4 months to register to take part in this event via online or any convenient method possable, even postal registratioin, same goes for Dusi and Midmar mile.
The Independant electoral commision gives me 2 weekends, thats 4 days in total that I have to be at the physical area in which I vote, no online no post, 4 days you have to be in your place or you don’t vote. I don’t think that is reasonable and justifiable in terms of section 36 of the Constitution to limit my right to vote? Anybody?
Friend
no matter how the iec looks at it they are lackeys of the ruling party it is a pipedream that they are independent
again i go back to my previous comment your vote is potentially against the anc therefore the iec will rather run to the townships and taxi ranks offering useless pamphlets then to allow for secure online registrations!!
lebogang Shuping // Mar 24, 2009 at 3:43 pm
what i find extremely funny is that all the wrong things in this past 10 years is placed at Thabo Mbeki`s door
what were the others cabinet members doing ? too afraid to say anything? lest they loose their perks?
could the same be said about the incoming ones?
are these the right type of people we want in Parly?
who will vote the scorpions out just because the party said so?the anc is clearly not ready to govern !!
I see no reason for you to open closed discussions. It has always been the position of those who oppossed TM that he is a dictater and collective discussion meant nothing to him.
It will be wrong of you to suggest that the Anc is not ready to govern,yet it has been in goverment for a long period it has. Ordinary masses on the ground keep on giving it a mandate to provide leadership everytime the opportunity( Elections ) arise.
Why you relfect on JZ adminstration when such has not yet happened raises more questions than answers. The fact of the matter remains that TM,s adminstration is being perpetuated at the moment. There has been no dramatic changes in policies and it has to be accepted that reasons advanced for the issue around Dalai lama to access this peacefull country are genuine
mel // Mar 24, 2009 at 4:22 pm
……………………………………………….
1. What do you mean by ordinary masses?
2. Have you considered the reasons why “ordinary masses” continue to give mandate to the ANC to provide leadership everytime the opportunity arises?
3. Assuming your argument that Thabo Mbeki’s administration is being perpetuated is true, does that not mean it is in fact not Thabo Mbeki’s administration which is being perpetuated but that of the ruling party which deployed him to the Presidency and “recalled” him?
This may hold water especially when you recall the “iron curtain” that ANC leaders like to conceal themselves behind, when faced with questions petaining to their leadership or government or ANC policies. The “iron curtain” is that there is collective leadership in the ANC so the person in question cannot give an answer. This was especially done by Zuma during his interview with Vuyo (the SABC 2 Morning Live presenter with Leanne Manas) in the height of the tension between the party leaders and the now COPE leaders (Shilowa and Lekota)
Die Baas in Beijing het gepraat
Well, life is never boring in the former rainbow nation. Can’t remember a week for eons without a new ANC f***-up revealing its ugly nature. Now what will it be next week, oh yes, the NPA decision Friday. Whew, short weeks. What fun we are having. Agg shame!
`see no reason for you to open closed discussions. It has always been the position of those who oppossed TM that he is a dictater and collective discussion meant nothing to him.’
the ruling party is also in government and for ten years they let the Dictator T.M do as he pleases my question to you Mel are we in for another silent treatment by the very people we deploy to parly because the dont want to upset their new master J.Z as President ?
i find no reason not to allow the Dalai Lama it is excuse lame and set not to upset China finish and klaar!!
And in latest news – China denies this video is true and blocks YouTube to boot…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7962717.stm
Wessel – I’ve been to Tibet twice, in 1995 and in 1998, and I can tell you – scenes like these are awfully real. Nearly got arrested at both occasions and lost all my video and photographic materials in the process. In Lhasa, Tibetan females are being sterilized against their will. Fact – there are twice as many Chinese soldiers in Tibet than what there are Tibetans (male and female). Fact – The Panchen Llama (2nd highest Llama) has been appointed by China – not by the Bhudist hierarchy. Fact – A very good friend of mine has been interned (presumably killed) for his contact with me over the internet. Many more unexplained dissappearances occur daily in Tibet. Actually, China (or, at least its regime) is busy committing so much Human Rights transgressions, that it makes Hitler’s appear minor. Do we need diplomatic relations with such a country? NOOO!
Anonymouse,
Yes, I agree. Hitler was responsible for the deaths of 20 million people. However Mao, and during peace-time, was responsible for the death of, wait for it … 70 million people. The Great Leap Forward contributed to 20 million souls starving to death.
An aside, it isn’t up to the ANC to govern, it is those souls who are simply loyal to the ANC, and will surely vote for same again. So whether the ANC is fit to govern or not isn’t the question at issue. The question(s) at issue is why will they return to power. There is a simple answer: those millions are not aware that you are 3 chances in 10 thousand of NOT getting AIDS when you sleep with somebody who HAS AIDS.
and,
If those millions of voters knew this, this 3/10000 chance, then we would get a different result come April.
So this gaff – or lack of foreign policy towards the Lama – is bad enough. No, I lie, they don’t have a foreign policy. All the fuss in this blog … is nothing compared to our self-taught leader that is Zuma and what he will spring upon us. I ask myself the question: Who can govern this country? Who? The present ADMIN, certainly not, Zuma – Mr. 3 in 10000, no! As Ulrike Meinhoff once said “Some talk about the weather. . . we don’t’.
Let’s put everything in context:
Dalai Lama
comparable to Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, Desmond Tutu, Steven Biko and Aung San Suu Kyi
VS.
Chinese Communist Party:
Burma crisis and brutal suppression, murder for Chinese oil interest
Safron Monk Demonstration
Arms to Mugabe and taking Zimbabwe
warm relation with all the thugs of Africa
Support of Sudan’s oppressive regime for Oil
Decimate Mozambique forest for trees
Meddle in the politics of every country in the world with the threat of economic embargo
Suppression, genocide and destruction of Tibet
Suppression of Chinese Muslims in China
Threaten Taiwan
Live organ harvesting and brutal suppression of 100 million Falun Gong Chinese citizens
Ghost virus’s to 103 countries to “monitor” people
kill 60 million of its own people
polluting it’s country and the world at an incredible, dizzying speed
consuming the world’s resources at an incredible, dizzying speed
Huawei Telecom equipment with malicious code sold to UK and other countries give Chinese Communist party (CCP) ability to shut down vital systems of a country.
50 million people have left CCP and 50,000 leaving each month
Way to be a struggle hero, ANC!