DA slams Mbeki visit to Haiti

2003-12-17 13:28

Cape Town - The Democratic Alliance has strongly criticised President Thabo Mbeki's plans to visit Haiti for that nation's bicentennial celebrations on January 1 next year.

"If President Thabo Mbeki wants to go to Haiti for a private holiday, that is one thing.

"It is something altogether different if he wants to go there with all the trappings of state, at the expense of the taxpayer and the defence budget," DA acting leader Douglas Gibson said in a statement on Wednesday.

Plans for Mbeki's visit were consolidated last week during a visit to the strife-torn island state by Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

It was announced at the time that South Africa had offered Haiti R10m "as material support" for its celebrations.

It was also reported that the SA Navy replenishment vessel SAS Drakensberg had left Simonstown for the island so it could serve as a safe haven for Mbeki and his party if the situation there got out of hand.

In his statement, Gibson said Haiti was descending into chaos and civil disorder.

"It does not seem to us that there is much to celebrate in Haiti, but if the Haitians wish to celebrate the fact that they are the poorest and most backward country in the Americas, that is their affair.

"Surely it does not need to be dignified by the presence of President Mbeki with a whole entourage, and with the SAS Drakensberg standing by to rescue him and his party in the event of a serious threat to his safety.

"The R10m being donated for the celebrations could be more profitably spent here in South Africa giving underprivileged children a decent meal for Christmas," he said.

- SAPA