Cabinet has reacted to this week’s Pretoria High Court ruling that interdicted the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) from donating R50 million in humanitarian aid to Cuba.
The court ruling was discussed this week during Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting.
Cabinet said it noted the interim order granted in favour of AfriForum‘s urgent application, saying the matter will soon be before the courts again and the government would present its argument then.
Judge Brenda Neukircher granted AfriForum’s urgent interdict, pending the final outcome of an application to be instituted by the lobby group to review and set aside the humanitarian aid to Cuba, that’s part of Dirco’s African Renaissance and International Cooperation Fund.
SA’s friendship with Cuba
Responding to the outrage from some South Africans that the funds should be used to address the country’s socio-economic challenges, Cabinet said Cuba’s economic crisis had become “untenable” and its government was in need of assistance.
Cabinet spokesperson Phumla Williams on Friday said South Africa’s bonds of friendship with Cuba were deeply rooted in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region’s struggle for liberation.
“Were it not for the selfless intervention of the Cubans in Southern Africa over three decades, it would have taken far longer to liberate South Africa and other SADC countries from colonial oppression,” Cabinet said.
“Former president Nelson Mandela understood this, which is why Cuba was the first country outside the continent Madiba visited upon his release from prison in 1990,” Williams said in a statement.
‘Monumental sacrifices’
Cabinet said Cuba made “monumental sacrifices” to fight alongside African liberation movements at a time when the small island nation had been struggling under the United States of America’s economic embargo for a decade and a half.
“Cuba’s economic crisis has become untenable and the Cuban government is in need of assistance.
“Mexico, Bolivia and Russia are among the countries which have provided humanitarian aid to ease the island’s worst economic crisis in decades.”
Battle of Cuito Cuanavale
Cabinet also commemorated the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale in Angola that took place from 1987 to 1988.
It said Cuba played a critical role in assisting African liberation movements like the ANC to realise their objectives.
“There was no material gain for the Cubans who came to our support, but their overriding incentive was to fight for the liberation of Southern Africa from colonial and reactionary forces.
“Then President Fidel Castro was driven by revolutionary zeal and he told his comrades they were fighting ‘the most beautiful cause of mankind’.
“From Angola to Namibia and Algeria to Guinea Bissau, Cuba played a decisive role in contributing to the liberation of these African countries from colonial occupation.”
Cabinet added that Cuba continued to consistently provide medical and other assistance to South Africa in the post-1994 period, most recently during the Covid-19 pandemic.
It said it was South Africa’s moral obligation to show solidarity with the people of Cuba at a time when they are struggling to survive.
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