Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

South Africa's main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance says President Thabo Mbeki may have violated the Constitution by sending a defence force aircraft to the Caribbean, without informing Parliament.

The Democratic Alliance charged here on Monday that Mbeki approved the employment of a South African Air Force (SAAF) Boeing-707 to carry arms and equipment for the use of the Haitian Police Force in support of then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

The aircraft was reportedly carrying a shipment of 150 R-1 rifles, 5,000 bullets, 200 smoke grenades and 200 bullet-proof vests, but never reached Haiti because of the departure of Aristide for Bangui, Central African Republic.

"Specifically, President Mbeki appears to have violated Section 201 of the Constitution, which requires him to inform Parliament or the appropriate parliamentary oversight committee of any employment of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF)," DA leader Tony Leon said in a statement.

"The Democratic Alliance has established, through contact between DA Chief Whip Douglas Gibson and the office of the Secretary of Parliament, that President Mbeki failed to inform the relevant parliamentary oversight committee (in this case, the Joint Standing Committee on Defence, or alternatively the Portfolio Committee on Defence) of the employment of the SAAF aircraft within seven days of that employment, as required by the Constitution."

Leon said he has written to President Mbeki and asked him to explain about the employment of the SAAF aircraft.

"Specifically, I have asked him to explain whether he sought legal opinion before authorising the deployment of the SAAF aircraft to Haiti; and, if so, to explain how he would justify his apparent failure to inform Parliament in terms of Section 201 of the Constitution," he explained.

The DA is also not convinced that government obtained an export permit as is required by the National Conventional Arms Control Act to export these arms and equipment.