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Solidarity today released a report on the South African government’s past with its Cuban counterparts. This comes after Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Minister, Lindiwe Sisulu, earlier this month welcomed the arrival of 24 Cuban engineers in the country to address South Africa’s water crisis. 

“It is time that South Africa’s fascination with Cuba and the communist ideology come to an end. The latest deployment of Cuban engineers is outrageous, especially given that some of South Africa’s own engineers are unemployed, or have the capacity to help. 

What makes it even worse is that Minister Sisulu mentioned in an interview on Radio 2000 that applications had indeed been received for the positions currently being filled by Cubans, but tthe applicants were white,” Theuns du Buisson, economics researcher at the Solidarity Research Institute (SRI) explained. “By implication, the minister is prepared to appoint mentors at great cost rather than to use local talent to solve actual water problems. Consequently, black people can be left without water as long as, according to the minister, white people are not appointed in jobs.”

According to Solidarity, Cuba’s own water situation is precarious. The SRI report, for example, points out that most neighbourhoods in Havana only have water for two hours every five days.
 
“The Cuban government does not accept responsibility for this state of affairs, but rather blames US sanctions for the country’s lack of infrastructure. The Cubans conveniently forget that the US is not the only supplier of equipment,” Du Buisson contends.

Solidarity’s report also reveals other occasions where Cuban employees had been deployed, apparently to improve existing South African services.

“Since the ANC took over, attempts have been made at every opportunity to channel money to Cuba. For example, the South African Defence Force imported mechanics from Cuba at a cost of R200 million to repair vehicles. A number of these same vehicles were later sold as scrap,” Du Buisson said. “More recently, the Defence Force again spent an amount of R200 million on the drug Interferon. It was purchased from Cuba to be used against Covid-19 although there was no evidence that it would be effective.”

Solidarity shed more light on the conditions and circumstances under which Cuban workers are exported to foreign countries. 

Du Buisson explained: “It might be true that the Cubans are paid large sums of money, but the Cuban government lays claim to most of their remuneration. Cuba’s export of medical doctors to other countries contributes more to the state’s revenue than the entire tourism sector. These doctors often make allegations of intimidation by Cuban authorities while they are deployed in places around the world.” 

According to Du Buisson, one can only wonder whether the Cubans thus also regard their engineers as commodities in exchange for foreign currency. “What is certain is that the South African government did not bring them here to solve our water problems. Instead, they are here to confirm the ANC’s commitment to the communist ideal. This while our own engineers are ready to solve local problems with local experience and expertise,” Du Buisson concluded. 

To read the full report, click here. 

Issued by Solidarity