Govt defends Haiti visit

2004-01-06 19:40

Pretoria - The South African government on Tuesday called a special media conference in which it again defended President Thabo Mbeki's attendance at Haiti's celebration of its independence bicentennial.

It also criticised the media for spreading what it described as "deliberate falsifications" about an alleged attack on the presidential contingent in Haiti.

Director-General in the presidency, Frank Chikane, said the decision that Mbeki should attend the bicentennial celebrations was taken in light of South Africa's commitment to a process of African renewal - which also involved people of African origin living in other parts of the world.

"His presence there had nothing to do with supporting one group against another," he told reporters in Pretoria.

DA leader Tony Leon has said he would use the State of the Nation debate next month to demand to know the full costs of the trip and what benefits it held for South Africa.

He accused Mbeki of "propping up yet another international outcast - and in the process misusing millions of taxpayers' rands". Leon described Haiti's president Jean Bertrand Aristide as "the Mugabe of the Caribbean", and lamented that country's human rights record.

Civil unrest in Haiti has left 37 dead and 92 wounded since September, with anti-government protesters calling for Aristide's resignation.

Chikane said "differences of opinion" in a country should not prevent it from celebrating its achievements.

"There is no reason, because there are differences, not to celebrate the bicentenary of the Haitian revolution."

Last week's festivities were held to mark 200 years of Haitian independence from France and the creation of the world's first black republic.

Acting Foreign Affairs Minister Lindiwe Sisulu told reporters that Mbeki has indicated South Africa's willingness to assist in the mediation process in Haiti, if so asked.

"We hope that all South Africans, instead of carping and criticising, will support this endeavour and that they will hope for a satisfactory outcome, as we have seen in other theatres of conflict."

Chikane said the media should be worried about its integrity if "lies", such as a report stating that a helicopter in Mbeki's contingent had been fired on, found their way into the public domain.

Sisulu also denied reports to this end, saying "not even a single shot was fired at the South African contingent in Haiti".

- SAPA