1. (a)(i) Yes, Project THUSANO commenced in February 2015. Since then the under-mentioned number of Cuban members have worked in South Africa as per the specified Financial Year (FY) indicated:
FY |
2015/16 |
2016/17 |
2017/18 |
2018/19 |
2019/20 |
Total Number |
117 |
133 |
166 |
179 |
172 |
(ii) The nationals that are due to be employed in the 2021 – 23 Medium Term Expenditure Framework are indicated below:
FY |
2020/21 |
2021/22 |
2022/23 |
Total Number of Specialists |
172 |
145 |
134 |
(b) The Cuban members have worked in the under-mentioned areas, and will continue performing in these areas going forward.
(c) The Cuban specialists are transferring the under-mentioned skills:
(d) The Logistics Division does not know the cost of employing the Cuban members. The figures as indicated in the table below indicate the payment of the contract and administration per FY.
Year |
2015/16 |
2016/17 |
2017/18 |
2018/19 |
2019/20 |
2020/21 |
2021 |
a |
b |
c |
d |
e |
f |
g |
|
Total Cost |
6,125,800 |
143,952,671 |
170,662,596 |
274,393,655 |
219,595,670 |
252,386,010 |
9,555,856 |
2. In South Africa, the companies only provided PME maintenance and repair services for the SANDF, but hiring those companies have the following disadvantages:
As a consequence, the SANDF pays a lot of money, the vehicles spend a long time receiving the maintenance and repair, and when they are delivered back to the SANDF, these vehicles have to be returned to the companies as they break down very quickly. Taking into account the budgetary constraints faced by the SANDF, and the amount and complexity of the missions it has to fulfil, the SANDF requires a faster, cheaper and more reliable maintenance and repair service for the Prime Mission Equipment (PME). For this reason, the SANDF must build its own capabilities for maintaining and improving the serviceability rate of the PME, which is critical for having a better combat readiness. The companies are not willing to repair the vehicles for a lower price, nor to transfer the skills for doing it. The Cuban members, on the other hand, are providing the services in the required way, and are transferring their skills to the SANDF members at the same time. For example, at the Army Support Base (ASB) Western Cape, at the beginning of the Project, the vehicle serviceability was at 35%. At the current moment the ASB’s serviceability stands at 84%. Most of the unserviceable vehicles at the ASB are not repaired yet due to the lack of funds for procuring spares and material panel beating and painting.