Notes from Havana
Cuba’s revolutionary gains should be sustained and protected, and we should thank them
UNTIL Saturday, a parliamentary delegation led by the Speaker of the National Assembly (NA) will be in Havana, Cuba, to meet with the NA of Cuba, the Foreign Affairs Ministry, and the more than 700 medical students from South Africa being trained in Cuba.
The visit to Cuba is possibly one of the most important parliamentary visits undertaken by the fifth democratic Parliament because it recognises the role Cuba played in the anti-colonial struggles in Africa, which culminated in the liberation of South Africa.
Cuba should be the most important country to South Africa for historical and present reasons, and here is why.
The battle of Cuito Cuanavale refers to the military confrontation between then apartheid South African Defence Force (SADF) and the Cuban military forces in the village of Cuito Cuanavale in Angola in 1987/88.
This battle played a decisive role in pushing the apartheid regime to the negotiation table.
Addressing the 20th anniversary celebration of the battle, Ronnie Kasrils acknowledged that the SADF’s withdrawal, the independence of Namibia and the prospect for South Africa’s freedom were as a result of the battle of Cuito Cuanavale.
The Cubans intended to sustain the military offensive until the liberation of South Africa, but the liberation movement was not involved in the real battle. This is noted because the ANC and MK were in pursuit of an alternative route to South Africa’s liberation. The route of intensified military offensive aided by a formidable army and armaments from Cuba could have been buttressed by intensified mass protests in South Africa until the total capitulation of the apartheid regime.
We cannot find ANC involvement in the planning and intensification of Cuito Cuanavale at high-level command. The ANC-led liberation wanted a negotiated settlement instead of a people’s war to seize political and economic power, despite formidable military aid and commitment from the Cubans. Instead the ANC capitulated on serious economic issues during the negotiations and transition processes, which would have been different had the transition happened due to the military strength.
When Nelson Mandela was released from prison, his first visit outside Africa was to Cuba, as a way of showing gratitude towards Cubans’ contribution to the liberation of South Africa and the continent. On that visit, Fidel Castro committed to immediate bilateral assistance of the democratising South Africa and committed to help with the training of medical doctors.
The first intake of student doctors from South Africa was in 1998. Cuba has mastered the science of healthcare, and that is illustrated in its infant mortality rates and life expectancy. Cuba has infant mortality rates far below the rates of economically developed nations. Cuba has the world’s highest doctor to population ratio. There is one doctor for every 175 people, while in South Africa it is one doctor for every 4 000 people.
South Africa has been given the opportunity to send an average of 1 000 medical students every year from poor and rural backgrounds.
These are students who would not be accepted to South African medical schools because of the exclusionary nature of medical training, including the exorbitant cost.
The Cuban medical training sphere produces the best holistic doctors, and yet in the recent past, the South African medical fraternity and the Health Professions Council of South Africa have placed a mechanism that says all the Cuban-trained doctors should finish their studies in a South African medical school, despite the fact that there are no spaces available and the manner in which the concluding curriculum is presented is different.
With the massive degeneration of South Africa’s healthcare, our country should derive maximum benefits from Cuba and use the opportunity granted.
While quantitatively and qualitatively expanding South Africa’s capacity to train doctors, our government should maximally support the training of doctors and health practitioners in Cuba.
To date, South Africa has sent more than 3 000 students to various medical training universities. Currently, there are 1951 students in medical schools. Cuba has produced 657 doctors for South Africa and 712 are doing their final year in medical schools in South Africa.
This is unlike the empty promises of economic prosperity by the Western capitalist world who have abused South Africa and forced it to adopt neo-liberal policies that have spectacularly failed.
Without imposing its will on South Africa or expecting anything in return, Cuba has been a true revolutionary friend of the people of South Africa.
All of these positive developments from and courageous actions of the Cuban people happen against an economic blockage and sanctions from the US and its allies.
The US has since 1960 imposed sanctions against Cuba, restricting its trade and economic relations with many countries, bringing tremendous difficulty to Cuba’s economy, which has led to a perennial shortage of machinery and other products.
The Cubans sacrificed their lives so that we could gain freedom from nonsensical colonial apartheid oppression and repression, and there are practical interventions the South African government should implement to benefit the people of Cuba and South Africa.
The immediate intervention should be upgrading South Africa’s present embassy in Cuba to a Grade 5 embassy.