5 November, 2004
The government has tackled skills shortage in South Africa by employing skilled foreign workers. A programme involving some 450 Cuban professionals is one of the first examples of this – a sign of "excellent" bilateral relations with the country.
The Cubans currently work in several departments, including housing, health, and water affairs and forestry. The majority of them, some 240, work as doctors, while others are employed as architects, engineers and technicians. According to the Public Service Commission, some 53 foreign practitioners from other countries are employed as engineers, while Iranian and British doctors are also being deployed in rural areas.
The first Cuban doctors began arriving in South Africa in 1996, to fill a skills shortage in state hospitals. Initially they were on three-year contracts, but where asked to extend their stay.
There are about 1 200 Cuban doctors working on the African continent, including in Angola, Botswana, Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and areas in the Sahara.
The initiative has not been without its controversy. Some doctors have complained about a lack of job security (if they apply for South African citizenship), others about low pay. The government has also been criticized for narrowing the job market, and preventing South African's from taking up the government positions.
However, for many of the Cubans the initiative is working. It allows them to earn well above their earning potential in their homeland - and to carve out a good life in the country while they're here.
In the case of the engineers and technicians at the department of water affairs and forestry, the government of Cuba pays their salaries and the department pays a monthly stipend of R3 300. Cuban doctors in the public service receive direct remuneration from the department. 26 Cuban engineers take home an annual gross income of R4.68-million.
The initiative is positive for bilateral relations with the country. In June this year, Deputy President Jacob Zuma met Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage in South Africa, to discuss bilateral political and economic issues.
This followed the celebration of ten years of diplomatic relations between the two countries during May 2004. Relations are described as "excellent co-operation in all spheres".
Amongst issues discussed was the Cuban doctor programme – and its extension into the rest of the continent. A trilateral agreement between South Africa and Cuba has resulted in the deployment of over 100 Cuban doctors in Mali, with financial resources provided by South Africa. Rwanda has approached South Africa and Cuba to enter into a similar agreement. Cuba has also deployed 400 medical doctors in Gambia.
SouthAfrica.info reporter
