SA Communist Party leader Blade Nzimande has defended the government in the Dalai Lama visa debacle, saying the Tibetan spiritual leader is a “divisive figure”.

The SABC reported Nzimande as saying on Friday that the Dalai Lama was using his position to make Tibet break away from China.

“I don't think our country should be used as a platform for secession,” said Nzimande at an SACP congress in East London.

He said he was not speaking as government, but as a communist, from the SACP's standpoint. - Sapa