By Angela Quintal
Transporting ousted Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his family from Jamaica to Johannesburg in the presidential jet cost the South African taxpayer R738 000, Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said on Wednesday.
He was replying to a parliamentary question from the Democratic Alliance's Hendrik Schmidt.
The 25 999km return trip in President Mbeki's jet took place from May 28 to May 31 this year.
The plane flew to the Canary Islands and Jamaica and back to South Africa.
"After considering various options it was decided to use the Inkwasi presidential jet as being the most suitable," Lekota said.
The total cost of the air transport - R738 211,10 - was according to Treasury-approved tariffs, including operating costs, subsistence and travel allowances for air crew, fuel costs, catering costs on board and overnight, handling costs and landing fees, he said.
Aristide would not be a prisoner in South Africa, Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said on Wednesday.
Aristide, his wife Mildred, two daughters, a child minder and a personal assistant are living in Pretoria as guests of the government.
The South African Government is keeping mum on how much it is costing to host Aristide and his family.
DA chief whip Douglas Gibson, who has opposed Aristide's presence in South Africa, said on Wednesday the cost of transporting him in the presidential jet was disgraceful.
"It is disgraceful when one thinks of all the poor people in South Africa. Wasting money on this scale on Aristide leaves me speechless."
Gibson questioned why Aristide could not have travelled on an ordinary aircraft "at far less cost to South Africa". - Group Political Editor.