Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota has denied that a South African Air Force (SAAF) aircraft, or one chartered by the SAAF, is in Haiti.
Lekota was responding to a letter by Democratic Alliance federal council chairperson James Selfe on Thursday, asking him to confirm or deny that the South African National Defence Force currently has aircraft in Haiti.
The DA has received information from ”two independent sources” that a SAAF Boeing 707, or an aircraft chartered to the defence force, is currently in Haiti, Selfe said in a statement on Thursday.
He said he had written to Lekota in this regard.
In his reply to Selfe, Lekota said: ”There is not and never was an SAAF or chartered plane in Haiti during the turbulence leading up to the ousting of former president [Jean-Bertrand] Aristide.”
South Africa was asked for equipment, intended for Haitian police services, by the Caribbean Community (Caricom), he said.
”Caricom was anxious to help stabilise Haiti — an objective shared by the rest of the international community. Consequently, such equipment was collected and duly transported to Jamaica.
”At no stage did the SAAF plane proceed [to] or land in Haiti,” Lekota said.
According to weekend newspaper reports, the equipment included 150 R1 rifles, 5 000 bullets, 200 smoke grenades and 200 bullet-proof vests.
In his statement on Thursday, Selfe said South Africa’s involvement in Haiti has been widely condemned, and interpreted as tacit support for Aristide’s authoritarian regime. — Sapa