In an apparent U-turn, South Africa's new government said on Friday that the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama is welcome to visit the country, nearly two months after the previous administration denied him a visa.

"The Dalai Lama is more than free, like any other citizen of the globe, to visit our country," South Africa's new Minister of International Relations and Co-Operation, Maite Nkoane-Mashabaneshe, said.

"As far as the issue of the Dalai Lama is concerned, we did not communicate clearly at first as to what transpired," she told reporters after assuming charge.

Nkoane-Mashabaneshe, a former South African diplomat to India, said that the country does not discriminate against any one. "We think by now we have given South Africans enough opportunity to clarify as to what had happened," she said.

The previous government, led by Kagalema Motlanthe, had caused an international outcry when it said that the Dalai Lama would not be given a visa to attend a peace conference linked to the 2010 World Cup football tournament.

In March, previous government, under Chinese pressure, refused a visa to 73-year old Nobel laureate. Beijing says the Dalai Lama is seeking Tibetan independence and travels around the globe to promote his cause.

However, Dalai Lama, who fled to India from Tibet in 1959, says that he only wants genuine autonomy for his Himalayan homeland.

The Tibetan Buddhist leader was invited to South Africa by former Nobel peace prize laureates, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, and F W de Klerk. The workshop was cancelled after the South African Government refused to amend its decision despite calls by Tutu and De Klerk.