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In response to a Parliamentary Question from the DA, Minister Patricia De Lille has revealed that 24 Cuban nationals are employed by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure at a cost of R1,125,725 each. 

Minister De Lille motivates the situation by stating that there has been a dearth of the relevant skills available in South Africa and as a result, they have had to import these highly specialized skills from Cuba.  The list of specialized skills includes engineering, construction project management and facilities management. 

One of the entities under Minister De Lille’s department is the Council for the Built Environment (CBE).  In turn, the CBE oversees the activities of 5 Councils which include inter alia the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA), the South African Council for Architectural Professionals (SACAP) and the South African Council for Project and Construction Management Professionals (SACPCMP).   

The SACPCMP has over 11000 registered professionals in its database.  ECSA has over 55000 registered members and SACAP in excess of 11000 members.  It is, thus, inconceivable that the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure was unable to locate 24 professionals from amongst the more than 77000 registered members within its own entities to provide technical advice. 

It is also abhorrent that South Africa is importing people to work in the midst of the worst unemployment crisis our democratic dispensation has faced.  Minister De Lille has spoken ad nauseum about her plans for infrastructure-led growth to boost job creation and yet her Department is spending millions on foreign workers. 

Minister De Lille has indicated that the current contracts expire in November 2021 and that the Department has no intention of appointing more Cuban technical advisors in the short-term. While this may appear an admirable sentiment, she has been aware of these technical advisors since assuming office in 2019 and has failed to address the matter.  In fact, her department has been employing these advisors for 10 years already and Minister De Lille has been absolutely silent on the issue.   

In the last year alone, we have seen an influx of Cuban doctors, engineers, teachers and military advisors as part of the Cuban Technical Advisory Programme and it does not appear that there is any will on the part of government to halt the programme.  As part of the ANC Cabinet, Minister De Lille has defended this importation of labour and must answer for this. 

I will be writing to the Minister to request a detailed breakdown of exactly which projects are making use of these technical advisors and what the skills requirement is of each position. 

The Democratic Alliance will fight for every job that can be created to employ our citizens.  We cannot allow Minister De Lille to support the ANC’s political allies at the expense of our own labour force.

Issued by The DA