By Moshoeshoe Monare
The University of South Africa (Unisa) is recruiting exiled Haitian leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his wife to take up academic posts at the institution.
The institution, which has merged with Vista University Distance Education Campus and Technikon South Africa, wants Aristide to teach in the field of international politics for its newly created Centre for African Renaissance Studies.
Professor Barney Pityana, the institution's vice-chancellor and principal, could neither deny nor confirm Aristide's pending appointment.
'They want to offer him a senior academic position' "We will make the announcement when the time is right, we cannot say anything at the moment," Pityana said.
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Aristide could not be reached for comment at the time of going to press.
According to a source who declined to be identified, Unisa had been negotiating with Aristide for several months.
"They want to offer him a senior academic position. They are negotiating a package and his role at the moment, I think it will happen soon because the university is keen to have him," said the source.
Another source said the institution was also talking to Aristide's wife Mildred.
'The university is keen to have him' "Yes, I understand there are negotiations at a higher level about offering Mrs Aristide an academic posting at the university," said a senior source.
When the controversy of whether Aristide was going to take refuge in South Africa was raging, the University of the Witwatersrand's international relations professor, John Stremlau quipped then that he would not mind Aristide teaching his students.
Aristide's academic background includes studying philosophy at the Grand Seminaire Notre Dame and psychology at the State University of Haiti. He was also a priest before going to politics that saw him forced into exile twice.
His wife is a qualified lawyer who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania's Law School.
They came to South Africa in May after spending months in exile, first in the Central African Republic and then Jamaica, following a revolt and uprising in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince.
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This article was originally published on page 4 of Cape Times on August 27, 2004
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