This is not the first time South Africa has refused a visa to the Tibetan spiritual leader. It happened in 2011 and 2012.
The meeting, originally scheduled for Oct. 13 in Cape Town, is intended to honor the legacy of Nelson Mandela, who received the recognition in 1993.
But the Dalai Lama called for a boycott of the meeting after revealing that he was not allowed to travel to South Africa, during a ceremony to mark the 25th anniversary of receiving his own Nobel peace prize.
In response, two other Peace prize laureates, American anti-landmine campaigner Jody Williams and Iranian activist Shirin Ebadi, accused South African President Jacob Zuma's government of "selling its sovereignty" to China, and pulled out of meeting too.
Desmond Tutu, the South African archbishop who won the Nobel Peace prize in 1984, said he was ashamed to see his country "bend her back" in front of China, the French paper reported.