Failure, without fail

2011-10-06 11:30

The distraught face of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu as he delivered his tirade against the ANC government will remain forever etched in my memory as a snapshot of the sentiment of a nation. It is a picture of the anger and disillusionment that you feel when a trusted figure has failed to do the right thing.

The government did not grant the Dalai Lama’s visa, which he was applying for to attend “The Arch’s” 80th birthday celebrations, in time for the displaced Tibetan religious leader to be able to come to South Africa. The South African government has denied any wrongdoing, saying that the visa was caught up in the usual red tape, and that it had nothing to do with pressure from China.

What a load of nonsense! To say that the departmental official processing the application had no idea of its urgency is not believable. In the mass of indignant publicity leading up to the Dalai Lama’s cancelling his trip, if someone in the Department of Home Affairs (who should be so informed) had wanted to grant that application, it could have been located.

In fact, I’ll warrant that if one of the Chinese leaders requested a visit on short notice, every stop would be pulled out as various ministers fell over each other to be sure the application was processed. So, whether or not the urgency was made clear at the time of application, once the issue became a point of international focus, there was still plenty of time to do something.

What’s really sad is the affiliations that we’ve chosen. Of course, trade agreements are essential to the financial success of our country, but to choose these over supporting religious leaders of oppressed and occupied nations shows that our current government has strayed very far from its struggle roots.

No matter how much they preach the importance of remembering South Africa’s history, they themselves conveniently forget it when it is most important.

Tutu also said that this makes them worse than the apartheid government – a headline grabbing statement for sure – which he then went on to qualify by saying that at least he would have expected this from the apartheid government.

Sadly, I must point out to The Arch that this is exactly the kind of thing that we have come to expect from the ANC. Where financial concerns, cronyism or personal enrichment are concerned, doing the right thing is left trampled, battered and bleeding in the dust.

We do not speak out against human rights abuses, we do not demand the safe return of our citizens from foreign countries and we do not ask the right questions and demand honest answers ever.

So, as much as I am saddened by what has been done to the Dalai Lama and the Archbishop Emeritus (it’s his birthday, man, shame!), I am not surprised at all. This is simply another action of a government that fails to do the right thing, every time, without fail.

- Georgina Guedes is a freelance writer. You can follow @georginaguedes on Twitter.

Send your comments to Georgina

Disclaimer: News24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of columnists published on News24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of News24.

- News24