Trade Union Solidarity issued court papers in its case against the Department of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation. In the court documents, Solidarity challenges the legality of the decision to import Cuban engineers.
According to Solidarity, Minister Lindiwe Sisulu and her department did not comply with the legal requirements of section 217 of the Constitution, which determines that state institutions must be managed cost-effectively. Solidarity calls for the decision to appoint Cuban engineers to be set aside, further arguing that the correct procedure in appointing such engineers was not followed by the department and that there was no transparency in the process.
“What Minister Sisulu and her department are doing, is unconstitutional. She deliberately misleads the public, deceitfully conspires and sidesteps processes that must be followed. With these actions she undermines the law and she fails to comply with the requirements set for her. We remind the minister that she has an obligation towards South Africa and that she must fulfil her responsibilities. However, she does not want to comply, which leaves us with no alternative but to go to court,” said Anton van der Bijl, head of Legal Matters at Solidarity.
Furthermore, Solidarity argues that the decision to import Cuban engineers is unethical because the designated engineers will see only a small portion of the money while most of the money will be paid over to the Cuban government. According to Solidarity, these Cuban workers are being exploited so that the government can repay “old political debt” that had been incurred mainly by the ANC.
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“South Africa cannot be held responsible for the ANC’s political debt. Nor can we look on while people are being exploited. It is irresponsible and irrational to pay out any money to fund imported labour while your own workforce is beleaguered by a pandemic and unemployment. We cannot allow tax money to be wasted in this way. We are continuing with our case, and we will continue to fight against the inefficiency and incompetence of the state,” Van der Bijl concluded.
The Mail and Guardian reported in May that “the deployment of 25 Cuban engineers with “expert knowledge” to assist the department of water and sanitation with infrastructure maintenance will cost R18.3-million per year.”
