Solidarity sends list containing competent engineers to Minister
23 April 2021
Solidarity today sent a list of more than 120 competent and willing engineers to Lindiwe Sisulu, Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation. This follows after the Minister welcomed the arrival of 24 Cuban engineers earlier this week, to address the water crisis within South Africa.
According to Solidarity, these local engineers offer more expertise at a lower cost than the import of Cuban engineers suggest.
“We have reached out to the Minister with a list of some of the country’s most experienced and knowledgeable specialists in engineering, some of whom retain masters and doctoral degrees and others who have up to 42 years of experience. They are ready and willing to immediately start with work,” said Dr Dirk Hermann, Chief Executive Officer of Solidarity. “Furthermore, our list contains specialists in several fields of engineering and project management, but should the Minister require other expertise we can find those skills with the help of our Engineering Guild. There is simply no excuse not to use our own intellectual and practical resources.”
Solidarity also argues that it is unjustified to import foreign workers in the midst of an unemployment crisis, in which South Africa’s official unemployment rate is currently at almost 33%, when even better options are available locally.