SA to decide on Aristide

CAPE TOWN – South Africa will take a ‘subjective decision’ on whether conditions in Haiti allow former president Jean Betrand Aristide to return home, the government said yesterday.

Spokesman Themba Maseko said the government remained committed at this point to offering refuge to Aristide.The former president has been in South Africa since early 2004, when he was ousted in a bloody rebellion.In reply to a parliamentary question by the FF Plus, International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said hosting Aristide cost South Africa the equivalent per month of paying the salary of a cabinet minister.FF Plus leader Pieter Mulder said it was unacceptable for taxpayers to continue paying for his stay while many South Africans lived in dire poverty.’It is totally unacceptable that the South African taxpayers are still paying nearly R3 million annually for the upkeep of Mr. Jean-Bertrand Aristide,’ Mulder said.’While South African citizens are caught in a struggle existence, Aristide and his family live in luxury. He does not contribute to the development of this country but lives off the money of taxpayers which could have been used for our own citizens.’Mulder pointed out that Haitian President Rene Preval said after his election in 2006 that Aristide was welcome to return as he was still a citizen of the country. – Nampa-Sapa