Johannesburg — The Department of Foreign Affairs will convene a meeting "of all the departments involved" to arrange for ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's arrival and his accommodation in the country.

Aristide - who has been granted temporary asylum by the South African government - is expected to arrive in the country next week with his wife, Mildred, his children, two secretaries and bodyguards.

It is not yet known where Aristide will stay in South Africa. There are, however, strong indications from Foreign Affairs personnel that he and his family will be housed in Pretoria.

Presidential spokesman Bheki Khumalo yesterday said it was "too early to talk about the details [of Aristide's arrival] - that is a matter of days or weeks still. But the government has made it clear that South Africa will be responsible for President Aristide's upkeep and his security. This is a contribution to peace in Haiti."

"We don't know where he will stay and, because there could be security issues involved, we might not give those details before he arrives," Khumalo added.

But DA international affairs spokesman Douglas Gibson said South African taxpayers would be lumbered indefinitely with the bill for the Aristide contingent.

"The ministers of Foreign Affairs and Finance need to explain to Parliament and the people of South Africa how much Aristide's stay is going to cost the South African taxpayer and where the money is going to come from. Certainly, there is no allowance for it in the current budget," he said.

During a news conference this week, Gibson speculated that the temporary visitor's permit granted to Aristide could become permanent asylum. "He will reportedly be provided with security by the South African Police Services' VIP protection unit and [accommodation] equal to that of a visiting head of state," Gibson said.

He added that there were also reports that a government jet would be sent to fetch Aristide from Jamaica, where he is staying now.

But Khumalo said the granting of a temporary stay to Aristide was "a small price we have to pay to contribute to the peace and stability of another country".

And Kader Asmal, the new chairman of Parliament's international affairs committee, feels so strongly that South Africa is right to give sanctuary to Aristide that he suggested the offer should be made permanent.

"I have no qualms about this. My own view is that he should be entitled to refugee status," he said during an interview with the Sunday Times this week.

Asmal argued that South Africa's relationship with Haiti should be seen in the light of that country's history rather than its Caribbean location closer to the US than to Africa.

Asmal said the DA was raising insignificant objections to Aristide's stay. "In Oscar Wilde's words: 'This is the approach of someone who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing'," he quipped.

"Whether you like it or not, Aristide is a symbol of standing up against modern-day interventionist policies. All South Africans might not like it, but the vast majority in my view will support the idea that this man is a person who has stood up for certain positions. He is black, but he has stood up and he is being victimised."

But the DA argued that, despite the Caribbean Economic Community's request for the government to take Aristide in, there was no legal basis for his accommodation and criticised the likely cost. "Which aspect of government's service delivery to our own people will have to suffer because of the government's servicing a deposed dictator?" asked Gibson.

The Freedom Front Plus and the African Christian Democratic Party also condemned the open-ended promise of refuge for Aristide, who became president for the second time in November 2000, but fled Haiti on February 29 this year ahead of a rebel advance on the capital, Port-au-Prince.

Khumalo said Aristide had made it clear that he intended to return to Haiti, as he had done in 1994 after nearly four years of exile in Venezuela and the US. Khumalo also said he was not aware of any plan to seek outside contributions for the cost of his upkeep.