1. (a) There are 3369 students recruited to the programme since inception.
b) A total of 2617 has graduated from the Programme.
c) The total of 2 617 students mentioned in (b) above, after completion of their integration in South African local universities are/were allocated to various health facilities for a two-year medical internship and then proceed to fulfil a one-year Community Service Programme in rural and underserved areas.
d) The National Department of Health has requested the numbers that are currently still employed form Provincial Departments of Health, since the PERSAL System does not have a functionality that provides such granular data since inception of the Nelson Mandela Fidel Castro Programme.
2. (a) The doctors from the Nelson Mandela Fidel Castro Programme assume appointment to the department as qualified medical doctors like any other doctor trained in South Africa, this also include termination of employment. The termination of duty is therefore based on grounds that are deemed necessary for termination in terms of the scope of practice of medical doctors or it may be voluntary as is the case with any other employee.
(b) This cannot be quantified specifically for the Nelson Mandela Fidel Castro Medical doctors.
(3) (a) Costs incurred when students in Cuba
The following are average costs incurred and are fixed cost per student per year, depending on the Rand/Dollar Exchange Rate at the time of transfer, is reflected below:
Level |
Tuition Fees |
Meals & Acc. |
Ave. cost Med. Ins. |
Stipend |
TOTAL |
Preparatory |
$6000.00 |
$6022 |
$450 |
$2400.00 |
$14, 872.00 |
1st – 2nd Year |
$12, 500 |
$6022 |
$500 |
$2400.00 |
$21, 422.00 |
3rd – 4th Year |
$11, 500 |
$6022 |
$500 |
$2400.00 |
$20, 422.00 |
5th Year |
$13, 500 |
$6022 |
$600 |
$2400.00 |
$22, 522.00 |
b) Costs incurred for integration in the local Universities
Tuition fees charged by South African universities during the integration since inception until 2018 varied from one university to another. After the agreement signed with local universities, the cost of integration per student has been standardised since July 2018 and adjusted according to annual Consumer Price Index. Students have all to be in the clinical training platform for 18 months which translates into three (3) semesters. Additional costs include transportation of the final year students to local universities which depends on the mode of transport and distance to the university.
The following are the average costs incurred in South Africa:
Amount outstanding are not readily available for both Cuba and local Universities as we are in a process of receiving and paying invoices for the 2021 to 2022 financial year for Cuba, and 2022/ 2023 Financial year for local Universities.
END.