For years, the Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) has warned against the South African government’s deployment of Cuban doctors in the country, particularly at the expense of local doctors and medical personnel.
Over the past weekend, the United States (US) announced that it intends to revoke the visas of government officials from Brazil, African countries and the Caribbean islands that allow Cuban doctors to work within their borders.
According to the US government, the programme is considered coercive labour, as the Cuban government reportedly retains a significant portion of the doctors’ salaries while holding on to their passports.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Freedom Front Plus repeatedly pointed out that the expertise of local retired doctors and nursing staff should have been prioritised and utilised. This did not happen, though.
Instead, the ANC government opted to bring 217 Cubans to South Africa at a cost of R240 million.
Cuban doctors are frequently deployed in state and provincial hospitals, despite several serious shortcomings in their work.
Among other things, issues arise with diagnoses, as Cuban doctors cannot understand or speak South Africa’s local languages and are unfamiliar with local conditions.
The Freedom Front Plus echoed the general assumption that medical care is one of Cuba’s main “exports” as far back as 2021 already.
In 2018, Time magazine reported that Cuba’s programme whereby medical doctors are sent to work in other countries generated approximately R210 billion annually for the Cuban state coffers, while the doctors reportedly received only between 10% and 25% of their salaries.
Therefore, the US government’s statements and planned steps – as conveyed by its Secretary of State, Marco Rubio – are spot on.
The ANC was quick to criticise the US for its intended actions, but made no mention of its own ties with Cuba and the human rights violations occurring there.
Four years ago, the Freedom Front Plus also insisted that South African medical students should no longer receive training in Cuba, as it is a waste of money.
It followed the ANC government and the Department of Health’s failure to facilitate the return of 500 medical students from Cuba to South Africa.
The students in question were left stranded in Cuba without their allowances, barely able to afford food and water.
The money squandered by government on employing Cuban doctors and its medical training programmes should rather be used to fund medical training courses offered by the country’s own universities.
The Freedom Front Plus will once again implore the Government of National Unity (GNU) to immediately put an end to the wasteful expenditure on Cuban doctors and medical programmes.
South Africa simply cannot afford to keep jeopardising its already strained relationship with the US.
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Fun South African Fact: South Africa is the only country in the entire world that has voluntarily abandoned its nuclear weapons programme.