Agreement concluded with the Government of Cuba in terms of which Cubans will come to South Africa to work in certain professions
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NO: 825 (NW972E) AS PUBLISHED IN IQP NO: 8-2015 OF 20 MARCH 2015
Dr P J Groenewald (FF Plus) to ask the Minister of International Relations and Co-operation:
(1) When (a) an agreement was concluded with the government of Cuba in terms of which Cubans will come to South Africa to work in certain professions and (b) this agreement will lapse;
(2) whether more than one agreement was concluded; if so, what was the stated period of each individual agreement;
(3) (a) what professions were identified in each case and
(b) how many Cubans in each profession will be coming to South Africa;
(4) whether the qualifications of the Cubans were assessed by die South African Qualifications Authority; if not, why not; if so, which qualifications (a) meet the requirements and (b) do not meet the requirements;
(5) whether she will make a statement regarding the matter?
REPLY:
(1) (a) On 20 November 1995 an Agreement on the Recruitment of Medical Doctors was signed between South Africa and Cuba.
(b) The Agreement between the Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of the Republic of Cuba on Cooperation in the Fields of Public Health and Medical Sciences, signed in 2012, superseded all previous Agreements. This Agreement will be valid for 5 years from the date of signature.
(2) (b) The following Agreements were signed. However, The Agreement signed in 2012 has replaced all other Agreements in Health signed previously.
| 1996.10.30 |
Declaration of Intent on Cooperation in the Health Sector. |
| 1997.01.31 |
Agreement on the Expansion of Cooperation in the Field of
Health |
| 2001.03.30 |
Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Health. |
| 2012.05.25 |
Agreement between the Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of the Republic of Cuba on Cooperation in the Fields of Public Health and Medical Sciences |
(3) (a) With regard to medical practitioners, 164 Doctors have been deployed at 40 South African health institutions and 24 professors/lecturers at the Walter Sisulu University.
(b) This information is not available and should be obtained from the line-function Department/Ministry concerned.
(4) All Cuban doctors were interviewed and verified by the Health Professionals Council of South Africa and their qualifications were vetted.
(a) Not applicable
(b) Not applicable
(5) No
ADDENDUM
This reply only relates to Cuban doctors recruited to work in South Africa. Cubans have also been recruited to work as Engineers (Ministry of Water Affairs & Sanitation and the Ministry of Public Works), Mechanics (Ministry of Defence) and Teachers (Ministry of Education) that DIRCO is aware of. Further follow up questions should thus be referred to the relevant Ministries.
Outstanding Payments
Outstanding payment concerning South African Students studying in Cuba
| Description |
Payments made |
Outstanding |
| On 31 December 2014, US$ 6,413,322.50 was still outstanding for the group of 533 students that started their studies in 2014 – 2015 programme. |
|
R 70,804,400.00 |
| On 21 January 2015, R 38,749,500.00 was paid to Cuba |
R 38,749,500.00 |
|
| Currently R 32,054,900.00 are still outstanding |
|
R 32,054,900.00 |
Outstanding payments concerning Cuban Doctors working in South Africa
| Description |
Payments made |
Outstanding |
Northern Cape province:
Salary of 7 Doctors from January 2015 to February 2015
Overtime for 5 Doctors from June 2014 to December 2015
Overtime for 2 Doctors for December 2015
National Department of Health confirmed that the first amount of the three payments due (R 915 927.82) will reflect in the account of CMS on Wednesday 4 March 2015. The other two payments due (R 442 686.97 and R 695 0851.67) will be handed to their Finance Unit on Tuesday, 3 March 2015 for processing.
Northern Cape salary payments for the month of February 2015 were done on 18 March 2015. The last outstanding payment will be done during the week of 23 – 27 March 2015. March salaries will be paid to the individual accounts before the end of March 2015. |
|
R 442,686.97
The outstanding amount will be paid during April 2015 in the new financial year. |
|
