DA seeks urgent answers over SANDF medical supply donations to Cuban government
4 August 2020
The Democratic Alliance (DA) calls on the Department of Defense and Military Veterans to clarify the South African Defense Force (SANDF) donations of “medical material supplies” to the Cuban government.
The ANC government has yet again used millions in public money to seemingly benefit the Cuban government. At the beginning of South Africa’s Covid-19 emergency relief efforts, it came to light that the government would fork out almost half a billion on Cuban doctors to assist in local efforts. Now, it has emerged that the ANC government has donated essential health consumables in the middle of a national health emergency to the very same government.
It makes no sense that the South African government would make this donation to the Cuban government, when it cannot even provide the bare necessities to local health workers during this crisis.
Over the past four months, we have heard shocking reports of frontline health professionals downing tools in protest of the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) at health facilities, doctors and nurses having to reuse PPE at public health facilities, healthcare professionals taking PPE home to clean them and the poor quality of essential health consumables available to doctors and nurses across the country.