The mayor of Cape Town has suspended plans for the South African legislative capital to hold the annual Nobel summit over allegations of a government refusal to grant visa to the Dalai Lama.

Patricia de Lille on Thursday suspended the 2014 World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates over the “intransigence” of the government in Pretoria in refusing to grant a visa to the spiritual head of the Tibetan Buddhists to attend the event.

“After extensive discussion and deliberation, it has been decided that the 2014 World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, planned for 13-15 October 2014 in Cape Town, will be suspended,” Cape Town municipal authorities confirmed in a statement.

The Dalai Lama was expected to attend the summit to honor Nelson Mandela, the late anti-apartheid hero and a former president of South Africa.

Following the Cape Town announcement, a group of Nobel peace laureates requested that the summit be relocated if the Dalai Lama was not granted a visa.

Several Nobel Prize laureates have accused the administration of South African President Jacob Zuma of selling its sovereignty to China.

The Dalai Lama has on several occasions been denied a visa to South Africa, allegedly under pressure from China, which regards the 79-year-old as a separatist.

The spiritual head of the Tibetan Buddhists says he wants a peaceful transition to autonomy for the remote Himalayan region of Tibet.

China also accuses Dalai Lama of fueling unrest in the Himalayan region, saying the unrest in Tibet, incited by the West, is a plan by Beijing’s opponents to tarnish the image of the country.

Beijing regards Tibet as an integral part of the Chinese territory.