Question NW1490 to the Minister of Transport
04 June 2021 - NW1490
Malatsi, Mr MS to ask the Minister of Transport
(1)Whether his department has concluded any work exchange and/or employment agreements with any entity of the Republic of Cuba from the 2010-11 financial year up to the 2020-21 financial year; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what (a) total number of Cuban nationals (i) have been employed in each of the specified financial years and/or (ii) are due to be employed in the 2021-23 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework period, (b) are the details of the work that each of the specified Cuban nationals was and/or will be employed to perform, (c) are the details of the specific skills sets that each of the specified Cuban nationals possessed and/or will possess that South African nationals did or will not possess and (d) are the details of the total cost of employing each of the specified Cuban nationals in each case; (2) whether his department took any steps to ensure that the specific skills set of the specified Cuban nationals were and/or will not be available in the Republic amongst South African citizens; if not, in each case, why not; if so, what are the relevant details of the (a) steps taken and (b) outcomes of the steps taken in this regard?
Reply:
1. The Department of Transport has never concluded any work exchange and/or employment agreements with any entity of the Republic of Cuba from the 2010/11 financial year to 2020/21 financial year.
The Department has no intention/need to enter into agreement with Cuban Government for skills acquisition of any kind during the 2021-23 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework period.
2. There are no skills sets identified by the Department of Transport that can be sourced from Republic of Cuba which are not available in South Africa hence there were no steps taken in this regard.