'You are Not God!’ Tutu warns SA Government over Dalai Lama Special

The furore over the South African government’s refusal to grant the exiled Dalai Lama a visa to attend a human rights conference last month refuses to die down.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and human rights activist, slammed the government in an exclusive interview with the independent television station, e.TV, last night. The Archbishop said he was “flabbergasted” at the way the African National Congress (ANC) government had treated the issue surrounded the exiled Tibetan leader. (It was as if I was) “Having a bad dream,” a visibly emotional Tutu said: “We who have been held as such a wonderful example, we have one of the best constitutions in the world, we who have striven so much with the support of the international community to have a new kind of society. We have done this?” The retired Anglican Archbishop continued: “I am disappointed in all that the government has done in relationship to this,” he said. Addressing the government directly, he said: “I am deeply disappointed that you could disgrace us in this fashion. South Africa has undermined human rights. The rights of the Dalai Lama and of all Tibetans.” Archbishop Tutu sounded a warning to the ruling party: “Let me tell this ANC government what I told the Afrikaner Nationalist government. They (the ANC) have power now, but you are not God. Remember that you are not God and one day you’ll get your comeuppance,” the Nobel Peace Prize winner said.

Christopher Szabo

The Union Buildings

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Earlier, the country’s Finance, Minister Trevor Manuel, widely respected for his management of the South African economy, made disparaging remarks about the Tibetan spiritual leader: “To say anything about the Dalai Lama is in some quarters the equivalent of shooting Bambi,” he said. “Who is the Dalai Lama? The Lamas themselves are high priests as feudal overlords in that country.” Answering Manuel’s rhetorical question on who the Dalai Lama was, Tutu said: “The Dalai Lama has won the Nobel Peace prize. The Dalai Lama is one of the few people in the world who can fill Central Park.” Describing the Tibetan leader, whom Tutu knows personally, the Archbishop said: “The Dalai Lama is one of the holiest human beings in the world. He’s been in exile for 50 years. He has not this (showing the tip of his finger) bit of anger or resentment towards China,” the human rights leader said. Directly contradicting claims by official Chinese sources that the Dalai Lama was leading a secessionist or independence movement the Archbishop asked: “Do you know what he wants? He does not want to secede from China.” Tutu explained that the Dalai Lama only wanted autonomy within China so that Tibetan culture and religion could flourish. In line with this, the Dalai Lama’s Africa spokesman, Sonam Tenzing, confirmed that the Tibetan leader was not seeking independence from China. Speaking in Pretoria, he explained: “The Tibetan government (in exile) will pursue this particular line of seeking genuine autonomy for the Tibetan people as it is enshrined in the People’s Republic of China’s constitution.”