Cuban engineers ‘don’t have unique skills’

The 24 Cuban engineers who were brought to SA to try and fix the infrastructure problems do not possess spectacular skills.

This is the view of Benoit le Roy, chief executive officer of the South African Business Water Chamber.

“It would be difficult for the Cuban engineers to offer anything that we don’t know,” he said.

Le Roy said water engineering had different avenues such as mechanical, chemical and electrical engineering. He said South African engineers were trained according to what the country has.

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The Public Servants Association of SA said it was appalled by the department of water and sanitation’s decision to employ 24 Cuban engineers at a cost of R65 million to taxpayers over two years.

Dirk Hermann, the trade union Solidarity’s chief executive, said they began a legal process against the Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu regarding the importation of Cuban engineers for water infrastructure projects in South Africa.

In the legal letter, Solidarity asked that the Cuban engineering programme be suspended immediately and that assurance be provided regarding the legality of the Cubans’ licensing and
registration.