Cuban engineers appointed as employees at much higher cost than SA engineers

1 June 2021

Solidarity today disclosed new information on the import of Cuban engineers. Some of the information indicates that the Cuban engineers do have employment contracts and are paid up to R300 000 per year more than South African engineers.

Part of their remuneration is extensive fringe benefits that include flight tickets for holidays in Cuba, furnished accommodation, food and telephone costs. This is despite the fact that Human Resources, Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu publicly stated that the Cuban engineers are not employees and will not receive a salary.

At a media conference, Solidarity also said that it now has sufficient information to continue with its review application to have the Minister’s decision be declared invalid. The court battle will therefore be taken to a new level.

Solidarity also disclosed the Cubans’ contracts, which show that they will indeed do engineering work and not merely act as mentors as the Minister said. Solidarity also ascertained that the Cubans do not meet the South African requirements for registration and licencing.

Solidarity also revealed that the taxpayer will probably pay around R75 million for the project and not R64 million as stated.

“There is now no doubt that the Cuban engineers actually have taken the jobs of South African engineers and are paid more, and that taxpayers will have to pay more than was initially stated,” said Solidarity Chief Executive Dr Dirk Hermann.

According to Hermann, the information of the Department indicates that they have consistently misled the public regarding the nature, scope and cost of the project.

The information disclosed by Solidarity at the conference includes the following:

The Cuban engineers are employees.

According to Solidarity, it is outrageous that the Minister has publicly stated on numerous occasions that the Cubans are not here to work or to act as employees. She even explained on occasion that the Cuban engineers would not receive a salary.

The fact is that we now have an employment contract that was concluded with everyone of the engineers. This, together with the bilateral agreement, indicates salaries, leave days, job level and an unprecedented list of fringe benefits these engineers will enjoy while they are here,” Hermann said.

The real cost of the project and what taxpayers actually will have to pay for.

“Although they argue in court documents that the cost of the project will only amount to about R61 million, it is very clear from our own expert calculations that the project will cost much closer to R75 million,” Hermann said.

“Apart from paying their salaries, taxpayers are expected to fund several benefits as well. Among other things: flights so that they can return to Cuba for holidays while they are employed here; all costs of flying them here and back; furnished accommodation; food and clothing; transport; internet, cell phones and extra money to make landline calls to Cuba; and many more. This is an absurd slap in the face for our local engineers who are just looking for employment and who cannot even dream of such benefits,” Hermann explained.

The type of work the Cuban engineers will perform in South Africa.

The Department has been arguing for some time now that the engineers are only here to fill so-called “mentorship roles” and not to deliver services as engineers. Solidarity explains that the Department’s own documents, as well as the bilateral agreement with Cuba clearly states that the Cubans are here to perform tasks as engineers, despite the fact that the Cubans are not registered to perform such work in South Africa.

Whether the engineers are registered, and whether they should be

Despite the Department’s objections that it is not necessary for the Cubans to register to work here, they repeatedly contradict this point in the information revealed to Solidarity.

According to Solidarity, the Department clearly tried to have the Cubans registered but later decided against it due to administrative problems. Furthermore, the Department indicates that all the Cuban engineers will continuously work under the supervision of a registered engineer.

“The Department is struggling terribly to keep track with their own misleading stories. One must keep in mind that this type of review means, by law, that the Cuban engineers will have to work under constant supervision. All this, while qualified South Africans are raising their hands but being ignored,” Hermann added.

A comparison of several bilateral agreements with other countries and the one with Cuba

While much is being made of the several bilateral agreements that the Department concludes with other countries, according to Solidarity, it becomes extremely clear that the agreement with Cuba is one of a kind.
“We have worked through several agreements – with the Netherlands, Hungary, Denmark, Japan and Italy. In addition to the fact that these agreements are nearly half the length of our agreement with Cuba, the nature of it is also completely different,” said Hermann. “Where our agreements with other countries are mainly about the exchange of technology and ideas, the agreement with Cuba is one which discusses every single point regarding the employment of another country’s citizens in the finest detail.”

Solidarity further argues that it is clear from their court documents that the Department never made an active effort to advertise these jobs, despite the Minister’s allegations that there are simply no South Africans who wanted the job.

“Similar projects have been driven by the Department and Cuba for more than 19 years and in the meantime, we only see our water infrastructure deteriorating even further. In addition, the pandemic only worsened the unemployment crisis in South Africa. It is a shame that our government is failing their own workers this way,” explained Hermann. “The Department is arrogant and insulting towards their own workforce. They would rather deceive and try to hide information than help South Africans. We must fight this irrational and illegal decision in the strongest possible way,” Hermann concluded.

Read the documents here.

Issued by Morné Malan, Head: Communication, Solidarity, 1 June 2021