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transparency of the actions taken and the extent to which they contributed to anamelioration of the situation in Haiti.In spite of the request for assistance to Aristide’s government reportedly comingfrom CARICOM, the underhanded manner in which the South African governmentresponded, by promising arms and ‘equipment’, would not have contributed to anon-violent resolution of the conflict. For this reason, the action had to be keptaway from the glare of public and parliamentary scrutiny.Mbeki did not make any statements regarding Aristide’s calls for reparations fromFrance, an issue that would lend itself patently to the Southern internationalistagenda. This may be attributed to his stance on the issue domestically, where heopposed calls for apartheid reparations by sectors of South African society, on thebasis that they would deter the foreign direct investment on which his economicpolicy heavily depended. 639 His foreign minister, Dr Dlamini Zuma, however, laudedAristide’s courage, declaring in the 2004 DFA Budget Vote, “President Aristidedared to speak for the poor of Haiti. He dared to ask for compensation to correct ahistoric injustice”. 6407.3.3. Domestic implicationsThe domestic implications of South Africa’s engagement in the Haiti crisis werescarcely registered in the public domain. The main voices of opposition were thoseof the opposition in parliament, who had access to privileged information about thecountry’s involvement. They called for the denial of entry to South Africa toAristide. 641 As neatly expounded by Mbeki in his weekly online ANC newsletter,‘Letter from the President’, on the occasion of Aristide’s 51 st birthday, and in amanner only he could perfect, “As much as they did not know of President639 The Independent Online. 2003. “Mbeki in a bid to avert reparations litigation”, 31August, 2003. Accessed online at: http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/mbeki-in-bid-toavert-reparations-litigation-1.112302on 7 March, 2011.640 Department of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of South Africa. 2004. “Address by theMinister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, at the Budget Vote of theDepartment of Foreign Affairs”, 3 June, 2004, Cape Town. Accessed online at:http://www.dfa.gov.za/docs/speeches/2004/dzum_budget2004.pdf on 28 June, 2011.641 BBC News. 2004. “Aristide arrives in South Africa”, 31 May, 2004. Accessed onlineat: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3762591.stm on 7 September, 2011.251