Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad has landed in the Central African Republic and is expected to be asked by ousted Haitian leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide for asylum in South Africa, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday.
Foreign affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said that if the matter does arise, Pahad has been ordered to return to South Africa to report back.
“We can’t pre-empt what will happen. Officially Pahad was sent to the country on a fact-finding mission to find out why and how Aristide was removed from power,” he said.
Pahad left for the Central African Republic on Wednesday morning and was expected back on Wednesday night or Thursday.
Mamoepa said in the event Aristide does ask for asylum, South Africa will have to embark on negotiations with the United Nations, the Caribbean Economic Community (Caricom) and the African Union before accepting or rejecting the request.
On her return from India on Wednesday morning, Minister of Foreign Affairs Nkosozana Dlamini-Zuma said she was waiting to hear what Pahad had learnt on his trip to the Central African Republic.
She said United States Secretary of State Colin Powell had phoned her last week while she was in India and explained his side of the story.
South Africa was trying to gather information from Caricom and the US on why Aristide was removed from power.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance has again raised its objections to Pahad’s visit, calling Pahad a “specialist in meets-and-greets with dictators and despots.
“He met with former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and his deputy, Tariq Aziz, shortly before the US coalition invaded Iraq. Now he is cosying up to deposed Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide,” spokesperson Douglas Gibson said.
Gibson added: “The DA sincerely hopes Pahad is not in the Central African Republic to begin negotiations on a deal to grant Aristide asylum in South Africa.” — Sapa
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