No plans to hire Cubans, says Nzimande

HIGHER Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande said his department had no plans to hire Cuban nationals despite that country entering into a bilateral agreement with South Africa.

Nzimande made the statement when responding to a question from DA MP Nazley Khan Sharif, who asked whether the department had concluded any work exchange and/ or employment agreements with any Cuban entity since 2010/11.

The question was posed after the Department of Water and Sanitation, in April, announced that Cuban engineers had been seconded to the country to assist the government’s efforts in water delivery and related services for three years.

The move drew flak from organisations such as AfriForum and Solidarity, with the latter taking the department to court – only to later withdraw its legal action.

In his reply, Nzimande said the department had not concluded any such agreement with any Cuban entity since the 2010/11 financial year.

However, he said South Africa and Cuba had signed a science and technology agreement in 2001 to promote co-operation in science and technology development by means of exchanging scientists, research workers and specialists, as well as an exchange of scientific and technological information.

“Despite having a bilateral agreement with the Republic of Cuba, the department has had no plans to employ Cuban nationals, and as such has not taken any steps to ensure that any specific skill set was not available amongst South African citizens.”

Several ministers indicated their departments had also not concluded any work exchange and/or employment agreements with Cuba, when responding to written parliamentary questions by DA MPs.

These included Police Minister Bheki Cele, Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola, Mineral Resources and Energy Minister

Gwede Mantashe, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni, Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula, and Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa.

Mboweni told DA MP Solly Malatsi that “the department does not hold any formal position in regards to work exchange and/or employment agreements with any entity of the Republic of Cuba”.

Mbalula told Malatsi his department had no intention of entering into an agreement with the Cuban government for skills acquisition of any kind during the medium-term expenditure framework period.

“There are no skills sets identified by the Department of Transport that can be sourced from Republic of Cuba which are not available in South Africa, hence there were no steps taken in this regard,” he said.

Mthethwa told DA MP Thandeka Mbabama his department co-operated with Cuba to the same degree as any other country within the remit of its signed cultural agreement, and the agreement did not call for the hiring of Cubans in South Africa.