The South African government has refused the Dalai Lama an entry visa for the World Cup Peace conference scheduled to take place on Friday 27 March in Johannesburg.
The conference was meant to highlight ways in which football can promote peace.

A presidential spokesman defended the decision saying that the Dalai Lama’s presence at the peace conference was “not be South Africa's best interest” as it would shift the focus from the world cup to Tibet.

Despite this claim South Africans widely believe their government has succumbed to pressure from China.

The move has provoked a massive international outcry. Fellow Nobel peace laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former president FW de Klerk as well as members of the Nobel Committee pulled out of the conference in protest at the decision.

The conference now has been indefinitely postponed. The South African government stated on 24 March that the Dalai Lama will not be granted a visa until after the 2010 football World Cup.

Read more from the BBC and from the Guardian:

TAKE ACTION

If you live in South Africa please sign the Avaaz petition: Motlanthe: Please let the Dalai Lama in

Sign the Avaaz petition to the South African government

If you live outside South Africa please send a letter by post, fax or email to the South African Embassy or High Commission near you.

Please make the following points in your letter:

• Condemn the South African government’s decision not to grant a visa for the Dalai Lama
• The decision makes a mockery of South African democratic credentials
• The Government must publicly apologize to South Africans and the Dalai Lama for its decision
• Resume the peace conference and grant a visa to the Dalai Lama immediately

Contact details of South African Embassies and High Commissions in the UK and US

UK

High Commissioner Lindiwe Mabuza

South African High Commission
South Africa House
Trafalgar Square
London WC2N 5DP
Email: london@sadti.co.uk
Fax: 0207 839 0634

US

Washington DC
The South African Embassy in Washington, DC
3051 Massachusetts Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20008
Tel: (202) 232-4400
Fax: (202) 244-9417
Website: http://www.saembassy.org

New York
The South African Consulate General in New York City
333 East 38th Street, 9th Floor
New York NY 10016
Fax: (212) 856-1575
Website: http://www.southafrica-newyork.net

Chicago, Illinois
The South African Consulate General in Chicago
200 South Michigan Avenue, 6th Floor
Chicago IL 60604
Fax: (312) 939-2588
Website: www.southafricachicago.com
Los Angeles, California

The South African Consulate General in Los Angeles
6300 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 600
Los Angeles, CA 90048
Fax: (323) 651-5969
Website: www.link2southafrica.com