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Dalai Lama

It has been widely reported that not to grant the Dalai Lama a visa to attend Desmond Tutu's birthday celebration and to give a lecture at Wits University indicates a lack of integrity if at the same time the government and ruling party espouses the values of the spirit of the Freedom Charter and the Constitution of South Africa, the institute noted on Wednesday.

The current public discourse suggests that this decision was made by the South Africa government with a view to not put strain on the economically important business relationship with the People's Republic of China. In other words, the current logic in the public discourse is that economic advancement was put ahead of moral, human rights and democratic imperatives, the institute said.

"Our research shows that this is a fundamentally flawed argument" says Dr Heil, MD of Reputation Institute South Africa. South Africa's reputation is critical to the success of our economy as it is our reputation that drives economically vital behaviour such as investment in South African companies, tourism and the propensity in global markets to buy South African products.

Critical to our reputation as a nation is an emotional bond that people around the world have with us. Recent research has shown that the Dalai Lama is one of the most revered leaders on the planet (see last pages of the attached research report). Not granting a leaders of such stature timeous access to our nation is tarnishing our nation's reputation and the emotional bond people have with us around the world in critical aspects such as being friendly and welcoming, providing a safe environment for people, being a positive contributor to the global community and government effectiveness. These aspects are, according to our recent research, the most important drivers of South Africa's reputation and are therefore not only of critical ethical import but also imperative for our success in a global economy.

To tarnish our reputation for the short term gain of even securing significant deals by not granting the Dalai Lama a visa timeously therefore is not only a serious violation of the integrity of South Africa and the ruling party but also not in the long term interest of South Africa as a political and economic player on the global stage. While in principle it is important for South Africa to work with China as an economic partner, it stops doing so when it comes at the expense of our integrity and reputation. The public discourse therefore should be predominantly about who actually has an interest in the specific relevant deals that may have been jeopardised by granting the Dalai Lama a visa as not doing so was certainly not in South Africa's best economic interest either, Heil said.