Deepening the Dalai Lama Debacle?

The Dalai Lama decided not to come to South Africa this week after the South African Government dragged its feet on the issue of a visa because it did not have the guts to outright refuse knowing that there would be a global storm – even if short lived – about its decision. It’s a pity really, if for no other reason but a sign of gratitude and respect for Archbishop Desmond Tutu who has for decades proved himself a moral giant in South Africa. But let’s face it, Tutu remains an uncomfortable and prophetic  voice – he was outspoken against the Nationalists and the ANC have certainly not escaped his sharp tongue. He is one of the great visionary leaders of our times and certainly has been one of few religious leaders that have shown that the Church has a role to play in civil society by shaping the moral compass of the nation. Is the whole saga about Tutu or even the Dalai Lama? We need to dig deeper and ask ourselves what other lessons we might learn from this debacle. 

It is no secret that economics played a role – the key role(?) – in the rather embarrassing debacle we have witnessed in our newspapers over the last few days. I notice on twitter that even Richard Branson appealed to the Government to welcome the Dalai Lama and grant a visa.  The intricacies of economics are well beyond my full comprehension but I do know that China is an economic power to be reckoned with. Deputy President Motlanthe has just returned from Beijing in which, amongst other things, he shook hands with powerful Chinese figures in order to ensure that SAA has favourable landing rights in Beijing. South Africa, like our northern neighbours, has good friends in the east.  China is now, we are told, our biggest trading partner. It is no secret, this is not the first nor will it be the last trade agreement that South Africa and China enter into or deepen. The Chinese are world players and South Africa and the Western World know this. China has been labelled, by some, the new force of colonisation. Other questions like child labour, human rights issues or the Tibetan issue aside:  are we selling our souls to the east at the expense of our own people – most especially the poor?

The protests against the Government and the outrage in the media and on social media forums are all good and well. Archbishop Tutu is left “a sad old man” (he told Redi Tlhabi this on Talk Radio 702) but what about thousands of people in our country who are not only sad but desperate because they have lost their jobs as a result of us snuggling up to China? The textile industry in this country, for example, has been brought to its knees with the influx of Chinese goods – ever noticed where the products you buy at Mr Price come from? Textile factories have been shut because they simply cannot compete with the China. It is the poor of our own country who stand to suffer the big blows and not Archbishop Tutu or the Dalai Lama. In fact we stand to feel the blow because the growing poverty will burden us all in SA. We will all feel the economic and social effects sooner or later.

Maybe the Dalai Lama debacle can help us ask some serious questions about the war on poverty, our attitudes and the voice of the voiceless in this country – he is after all a symbol of voiceless Tibetans. What effect do our smiling smooth deals with the Chinese have on our own people? We are angry about the Dalai Lama, and so we should be, but are we just as passionate about our own affairs and most especially the poor?  We all get terribly flustered, upset and angry when bodies like the ANCYL make uncomfortable (misdirected) statements about land redistribution and nationalisation – it causes investment jitters. Do we feel the same jitters when for example, because of our economic allegiances, yet another child goes hungry because their parent’s menial task in a textile factory is no longer?  We have a long way to go if we are going to win the fight against poverty. It is going to take national attitudinal conversion – not just from government but also from each of us. I do not think we can simply point fingers at the ANC government when we know we, like them, all want a slice of the cake and sometimes no matter the long term cost. We have become a greedy materialistic nation. Solidarity is the foundational principle of Catholic Social Teaching and reminds us of our social and economic responsibility: ever thought about the advent and effect of the clothes you buy or the car you drive? The moral temperature of the nation takes its base reading from us as individuals – not only from government.

It is right and just to protest against the visa shenanigans of our government and the unfair treatment of two Nobel Prize laureates – but are we willing to dig deeper and protest on behalf of the poor and voiceless? Can Archbishop Tutu and his Holiness the Dalai Lama inspire us to do that as well? Perhaps the best lesson we can learn as we honour the Arch on his 80^th is to live a faith that does justice: never forget those who really suffer and how we might be implicit in that suffering.