PROFESSIONAL CUBANS IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN PUBLIC SERVICE

1
PROFESSIONAL CUBANS IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN PUBLIC
SERVICE

• Presentation Portfolio Committees on
  Public Service and Administration and Foreign
  Affairs
• PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
• 23 February 2005

2
Structure of Presentation

• Introduction
• Investigation approach
• Findings
• Response to the questions posed

3
Introduction

• Mr PJ Groenewald (FF) requested Minister
  Fraser-Moleketi to appoint a Commission of
  Enquiry into the appointment of Cubans in the
  Public Service (PS)
• Min deemed it appropriate to undertake an
  investigation and referred matter to PSC
• Investigation had to respond to the ff
  questions
• Number of engineering posts vacant in the Public
  Service?
• Number of engineering posts in the Public Service
  filled by foreigners?
• What are the qualifications of the Cuban
  engineers and whether they are up to standard
  with the qualifications in SA?

4
Introduction (cont.)

• iv. Are Cubans being directly remunerated for
  their services or remunerated via Cuban
  government?
• v. The remuneration they receive for their
  services?
• vi. How widely have the engineering posts been
  advertised and how many affirmative action posts
  have been advertised?
• vii. How many applications were received for the
  advertised posts?
• viii. Number of Cubans in service of the Public
  Service and in which occupations?
• ix. Number of Cubans on ground of bilateral
  agreements being employed in the Public Service
  and in which occupations?

5
Investigation Approach

• Identification of affected Depts and governmental
  systems
• Vulindlela - PERSAL
• The Department of Foreign Affairs was also
  approached with the objective of obtaining the
  names of departments involved in the appointment
  of Cubans and the relevant contact persons in
  those departments and the required information
  was received from the department
• The national Departments of Housing, Water
  Affairs and Forestry and Health were also
  requested to provide information on the above
  questions

6
Findings

• Approach of SA gov
• Encourage closer ties with Cuba
• Facilitate the exchange of knowledge and
  expertise
• Individual Ministries and Depts take
  responsibility for inviting Cuban professionals
  (engineers and architects)

7
Findings (cont.)

• South African Housing Programme
• Bilateral agreement 30 December 2002
• Aim strengthen co-operation in identified areas
  on housing and develop a comprehensive programme
  for housing cooperation
• Areas of co-operation
• Skills transfer and empowerment
• Assist with the development of housing education
  training curriculum
• Explore establishment of partnerships in the
  housing sector

8
Findings (cont.)

• There are several areas that currently limit the
  participation of certain professions in low cost
  housing delivery process, some lie beyond the
  control of the department
• little undergraduate training on engaging with
  the needs of poor clients who represent their
  needs as a collective rather than as individuals.
  Many tertiary institutions are correcting this
  tendency and offering programs that will improve
  negotiation and need assessment skills. Designing
  is also a challenge.
• Provinces have mentioned difficulty in filling
  posts advertised for architects

9
Findings (cont.)

• Department of Water Affairs and Forestry
• The Cuban professionals are not employed by the
  department but are seconded
• The Cubans are assisting the department with the
  following services
• The provision of geohydrological specialist and
  engineering services to rural and other
  disadvantaged communities within areas where such
  services are inadequate
• The development of sustainable approach to the
  use of available water resources and the
  promotion of proper operation and maintenance of
  water supply infrastructure

10
Findings (cont.)

• The promotion and support of proper sanitation
• The training, support and transfer of skills to
  local staff
• Department of Health
• The departments conditions of employment for
  Cuban technicians are the same as those for
  Cuban doctors
• Receive direct remuneration from the department

11
Response to the questions posed

• i. Number of engineering posts vacant in the
  Public Service
• PERSAL recorded a total of 1,734 vacant
  engineering and related posts in the Public
  Service
• ii. Number of engineering posts in the Public
  Service which are filled by foreigners
• PERSAL recorded a total of 1,482 engineering and
  related posts filled in the Public Service of
  which 53 posts are occupied by foreigners 1.65

12
Response to the questions posed (contd)

• iii. What are the qualifications of Cuban
  engineers and if they are up to standard with the
  qualifications in South Africa?
• Department of Housing
• Cuban professionals have architectural and civil
  engineering qualifications
• Consultations with Professional Bodies in South
  Africa to assess the qualifications of Cuban
  professionals is underway
• Currently Cuban engineers are not involved in
  certifying of projects.

13
Response to the questions posed (contd)

• Department of Water Affairs and Forestry
• Cuban nationals are seconded to the department
• Their qualifications were not therefore assessed
  by SAQA
• All the secondees have academic qualifications in
  the fields of Geohydrology Operations and
  Maintenance (Mechanical Engineering) and Water
  Quality Management

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Response to the questions posed (cont.)

• Dept of Health
• Cuban clinical engineers and technicians do
  training equivalent to training offered at only
  one institution in the country
• After that initial training they do further
  studies specialising in particular areas
  (diagnostic equipment)
• Their training, experience and expertise puts
  them at Control Technician Level
• The SA Engineering Council has only just
  recently created a Clinical Engineering Category
  under which these highly qualified engineers and
  technicians fall

15
Response to the questions posed (contd)

• iv. Are Cubans being directly remunerated for
  their services or remunerated via Cuban
  government?
• Housing Programme
• In terms of the cooperation agreement signed
  between the South African and Cuban governments,
  provincial housing departments employ and
  remunerate Cuban professionals on contract basis
  for three years
• Department of Water Affairs and Forestry
• In terms of the agreement reached between the
  South African and Cuban government, Cuba pays the
  salaries to the secondees and the department pays
  a monthly stipend of R3 300

16
Response to the questions posed (cont.)

• Department of Health
• Clinical engineers receive direct remuneration
  from the department
• v. Remuneration received for their services
• PERSAL recorded a total of 26 Cuban engineering
  and related personnel with a gross annual income
  of R4.68 million per annum

17
Response to the questions posed (cont.)

• vi. How widely have the engineering posts been
  advertised and how many affirmative action posts
  have been advertised?
• Department of Housing
• Department only advertised the engineering posts
  in Cuba
• Department of Water Affairs and Forestry
• Department did not advertise any posts because
  the Cuban nationals are seconded

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Response to the questions posed (cont.)

• Department of Health
• Permanent shortage of clinical engineering
  technicians and engineers
• Posts regularly advertised but quality of
  applicants do not meet the criteria
• Clinical engineering very scarce skill, further
  training is required, over and above the normal
  electrical engineering that is done by Technikons
• Only one institution is accredited by the SAQA to
  offer clinical engineering in the country

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Response to the questions posed (cont.)

• Department of Health
• A shortage exists of instructors that could
  train medical equipment specialists
• The department only has 10 clinical engineering
  staff capacity that is required in accordance
  with the norms recommended for the country
• As a result, the status of medical equipment in
  public hospitals has deteriorated to alarming
  levels

20
Response to the questions posed (cont.)

• vii.How many applications were received for the
  advertised posts?
• Department of Housing
• 158 applications were received for these posts
• Senior officials at both the national and
  provincial departments went to Cuba to interview
  the applicants

21
Response to the questions posed (cont.)

• Department of Water Affairs and Forestry
• The posts were not advertised because of the
  seconding arrangement
• Department of Health
• The department did not provide any information at
  the time of the gathering of data, because it was
  still compiling statistics and gathering
  information from the provinces in this regard

22
Response to the questions posed (cont.)
viii.Number of Cubans in service of the Public
Service and in which occupations PERSAL recorded
a total of 388 Cuban Employees in the Public
Service and they belong to the following
occupational classes Educators
1 Architects 13 Engineers and related
25 Medical Practitioners 339 Health Science
and related 2 Emergency Services and
related 1 Mining and Geology
2 Other occupations 5 Official PERSAL
stats Sept 2003
23
Response to the questions posed (cont.)

• Number of Cubans on ground of bilateral
  agreements being employed in the Public Service
  and in which occupations
• As at 30 Nov 2003
• Housing 62 Architects and Engineers
• DWAF 8 Engineers and Technicians (was 9 1
  returned home)
• Health 4 Clinical Engineers

24
Response from the Cuban Embassy

• Stats received from the Cuban Embassy as at the
  end of December 2003
• 407 Cuban experts were listed
• Doctors 314
• Architect and engineers 62
• Engineers in Water Affairs 7
• Tutors of South African teachers 24
• (Math, Chemistry and physical science)

25
Response from the Cuban Embassy (contd.)

• Stats received from the Cuban Embassy as at the
  end of October 2004
• 290 Cuban experts were listed
• Doctors 220
• Architect and civil engineers 33
• Engineers in Water Affairs 13
• Tutors of South African teachers 24
• (Math, Chemistry and physical science)