South Africa and Cuba commemorate 27 years of strong diplomatic ties
Presidents Nelson Mandela and Fidel Castro formalised diplomatic relations between South Africa and Cuba on May 11, 1994.
PRETORIA, June 4 (ANA) – South African International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor and her Cuban counterpart Bruno Rodriquez Parrilla have commemorated 27 years of formal diplomatic relations between their two countries.
The pair had a video call on Thursday to mark the day, the department of international relations and cooperation (Dirco) said in a statement.
Former South African President Nelson Mandela and then Cuban leader Fidel Castro formalised relations on May 11, 1994.
“However, the deep and special relationship between the two countries dates back well before 1994,” Dirco spokesman Clayson Monyela said.
“ It was cemented on the battlefields of southern Angola, where almost half a million Cubans joined their destiny with that of African combatants to reject the military intervention of apartheid and neo-colonialism on the continent.”
Cuba is a strategic partner for South Africa in Latin America and on multilateral forums.
“The two countries’ relations continue to display a good model of South-South cooperation and human solidarity in the areas of health training and services, human settlements technical exchange, science and technology, public works technical assistance, cooperation on water resource management and water supply and on professional services in the field of basic education,” said Monyela.
“Currently just under 600 South African medical students are studying in Cuba at various levels. At the request of South Africa, 217 Cuban medical practitioners, part of the Cuban Medical Brigade, were deployed throughout the country in April/May 2020 to assist South Africa in combating the Covid-19 pandemic.”
South Africa nominated the Cuban Medical Brigade for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize.
Monyela said South Africa, as a matter of principle, would always vote in favour of the annual United Nations resolution calling for the end of the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States on Cuba.
Both countries maintained “excellent” cooperation in the multilateral arena through mechanisms such as the Non-Aligned Movement, the Group of 77 and the United Nations system, he added.
Meanwhile, South African trade union Solidarity is fighting to overturn the decision by the department of water and sanitation to deploy Cuban engineers.
Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu in April welcomed the 25 engineers, who the government says have expert knowledge to help with infrastructure maintenance in the country, services which will cost South African taxpayers R18 million (US$1.3 million) over three years.
– African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Stella Mapenzauswa
