Lim med student kicked out of Cuba
One of the 110 South African medical students studying in Cuba, was deported by the Cuban government for poor performance and misconduct during lectures.
LIMPOPO – Cuban authorities informed the MEC for Health, Dr Phophi Ramathuba, that Humphrey Tauatsoala (21) has been suspended for three years.
According to Humphrey, officials from the Cuban government came to his residence, ordered him to pack his belongings and took him to the airport. He said he was left stranded at OR Tambo International, and had to phone his father to send him money so he could take a taxi home to Lephalale. He is currently at home, unemployed.
“I am concerned about the misconduct of our medical students in Cuba,” stated Ramathuba.
“In September last year during the send-off function of the 110 students, I warned them to stay away from alcohol abuse and to not get pregnant that would lead to their disqualification from the programme,” she said.
The medical scholarship is the result of a bi-national agreement between South Africa and Cuba that was signed by the late president, Nelson Mandela and President Fidel Castro in 1996 to bridge the skills gap in critical areas in the public sector.
The programme is one of the national strategies developed to strengthen and create capacity to ensure that the public health sector has an adequate and competent health workforce to sustain the health system.
“The Department of Health has been participating in this scholarship programme since 1999.
“Exco approved R25 million for the 110 students who left the country in January 2014 to pursue their studies in Cuba,” the MEC said.
It is alleged that a second student was disqualified from the programme after making insulting remarks in Spanish against President Fidel Castro.
Meanwhile, Tauatsoala’s father says he was unhappy with the way the deportation was carried out.
“They should have informed us if he was causing trouble in Cuba. They can’t just dump him at the airport without money,” he said.
“If they are bringing him back home, they must organise for him to study medicine at one of the South African universities,” Pheaga Sence Tauatsoala remarked.
