The public statements made by Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu about whether Cuban water engineers will be employed by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) are "materially different" from what is stated in documents submitted to the North Gauteng High Court opposing a review application lodged by trade union Solidarity, the union said on June 1.

Contrary to the statements made by Sisulu in a public radio interview where she repeatedly said the 24 Cuban engineers would not be employees receiving a salary, but would only receive a stipend, documents submitted to court included employment contracts signed by the Cuban engineers, said Solidarity communications head Morné Malan during a media briefing.

"The yearly remuneration for the Cuban engineers is in line with the remuneration of local engineers of similar expertise and experience of about R770 000 a year for the duration of the project.

"However, fringe benefits, including furnished accommodation, vehicles for those with a valid South African driver's licence, flights to and from Cuba, one return flight for a holiday in Cuba, a one-off payment for each to buy winter clothes and cellphones and their use, amount to about R300 000 a year more than what a local engineer [with] similar qualifications would receive," he detailed.

The bilateral agreement with Cuba, which is much more detailed than similar bilateral agreements with other countries, also explicitly stipulates that the intention is for the engineers to render services in South Africa, he added.

"One specific document we did not receive and the department failed to produce is the so-called advertisement, which the Minister said she had released for the specific project and for which, allegedly, no South Africans had applied, necessitating, according to the DWS, that the department bring in these skills as they are not present in South Africa."

Malan stated that the DWS was unable to produce the advertisement, nor evidence of any research conducted to determine whether the required skills exist in South Africa.

"This specific agreement is only the final one in a series of agreements with Cuba other the past 19 years. We have had Cuban engineers in South Africa for the past two decades, and it is clear South Africa's water infrastructure has not benefitted from their presence.

"It is clear, based on the employment contract and the bilateral agreement with Cuba, that the Cuban engineers will be employed by the department to render engineering services, will be provided with a salary and assigned a post and level within the department," he said.

To render engineering services, an engineer is required to register with the Engineering Council of South Africa, he added.

"The disclosures also show that the Cuban engineers will do engineering work and will not serve solely as mentors and consultants, as stated by the department. The cost of the project, based on information contained in the court documents, will be about R75-million, not R64-million as reflected in public statements," added Solidarity CE Dr Dirk Hermann.

"We can confirm that the Cuban engineers do not meet the South African requirements for registration and licensing [as professional engineers], and there is no doubt that the Cuban engineers have been given the jobs of South African engineers and will be paid more than local engineers. The information from the department indicates that it has consistently misled the public regarding the nature, scope and costs of the project," he stated.

"These are jobs that could have gone to South Africans. Not only are we not employing South Africans, we are paying more to exclude them from the project," said Malan.

Solidarity Labour legal department head Anton van der Bijl said the union was writing to the Public Protector and the South African Police Service to ask whether factually inaccurate public statements, which are not made under oath, constitute perjury, and noted that there may be an argument that they do not constitute perjury.

However, the union will consider lodging a complaint for the statements made by the Minister that do not conform with submissions made under oath. Solidarity has also requested information about whether the monies will be paid to the Cuban engineers or to the State of Cuba, he added.