And in a spectacular own goal...

South Africa has spent the past week reeling from the spectacular own goal scored by the government when it refused a visa to the Dalai Lama to attend a peace conference. The Dalai Lama was evidently due to speak at the conference on the role that soccer could play in tackling xenophobia and racism. The government initially said the reason the visa was denied was because they didn’t want the Dalai Lama’s visit drawing attention away from the 2010 World Cup. However, it seems that it was pressure from the Chinese that inclined the government to deny the Dalai Lama access to the country.

There are a few things that have struck me in thinking about the matter.

Rather worryingly, South Africa’s leaders and some of her people, seem to have forgotten our own long struggle for freedom and democracy. It seems to be a case of, “Now that we’re sorted, tough luck for those who aren’t - not our problem.” This conveniently forgets the international aid and support we had from so many quarters. And it forgets how much of that support came from international sporting bodies.

The decision by the government is nothing more than rank hypocrisy hiding behind the skirts of “economics”. Moreover, it is a decision laced with self-centredness and shows absolutely no consideration for the fact that we are all in this together, as one. It is one world, we are one people - what happens to one, impacts upon the other. Tragically, however, it seems our greed and fear are always too strong for us to remember that. History faced with self interest appears to teach us little.

Sadly, money is once again allowed to speak louder than what is right and just. But this whole business of trade vs human struggle is a double edged sword - given that trade with China has resulted in the loss of innumerable jobs in the clothing, textile and footwear industries in South Africa. While consumers have, to date, been happy to buy Chinese made goods, trade unions and workers have long protested against Chinese imports. And of course, it is not only these industries that have been affected – many others have taken a knock at the hands of cheaply made Chinese goods. It would do well for the government and for those South Africans who support the denial of a visa to the Dalai Lama to remember that.

But the Chinese link raises another issue. Not only has the government failed to consider the often brutal reality of the Chinese occupation of Tibet and our own history and struggle for freedom from the apartheid past but they’ve also forgotten our colonial heritage. In a moment of greed and myopia they fail to observe the role that China is increasingly playing in Africa. If anyone was upset by British colonialism, be sure that it will be a tea party by comparison to Chinese colonization, which is already well under way.

The point might even lead one to ask why Mbeki followed such very quiet diplomacy with Zimbabwe. Was it perhaps because Mugabe had already sold out to the Chinese, thereby giving them a kind of ownership in the country, which enabled them to bring economic pressure to bear on the Mbeki government?

But the most critical point remains this: Trade is all well and good but what happened to ethics and human values? Since when did trade become more important than freedom, justice and democracy - the very pillars on which the constitution of South Africa stands? It is a sad day indeed when one’s own leaders forget these things – and it’s no small wonder that several groups are going to the court over the matter.

The self-interested focus on trade at all costs is a sad indictment of what South Africa – that place that once stood as a beacon for human rights - is becoming. It strikes me that those who support the government’s decision are probably also those who last year took to the streets of South Africa in waves of xenophobic violence against refugees from neighbouring countries – countries that had aided those who sought to end apartheid. It all speaks to the same mindset. And it leaves me thinking that too many South Africans (and too many humans per se – witness the global economy) have become far too focused on self interest - to the extent that the view of the far bigger picture of our humanity has been lost. It is a sad day when the South African concept of ubuntu - the ethical and humanist philosophy which focuses on people's allegiances and relations with each other and which acknowledges that we cannot and do not exist in isolation - is forgotten.

The reality of the thing is that the denial of a visa to the Dalai Lama has nothing to do with soccer. It certainly has nothing to do with peace. It definitely has nothing to do with democracy. It would seem to be about something far more complex. Time to wake up and smell the chop-suey wafting through the plastic bead-curtains of self-interest.