Venture Thusano was initially meant to deal with the upkeep and restore of the South African Nationwide Defence Pressure (SANDF) operational car fleet however has morphed to incorporate costly supplementary agreements akin to coaching troopers as medical practitioners and mechanical engineers in Cuba. Picture: Rajesh Jantilal/AFP/Getty Pictures
The division of defence remains to be reviewing South Africa’s bilateral settlement with Cuba, Venture Thusano, and all sub-contracts related to it, the workplace of the auditor normal informed parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) on Tuesday.
Inked in 2012, the controversial and expensive mission was purported to final for under 5 years. It has, so far, price taxpayers greater than R2.6 billion.
Venture Thusano was initially meant to deal with the upkeep and restore of the South African Nationwide Defence Pressure (SANDF) operational car fleet however has morphed to incorporate costly supplementary agreements akin to coaching troopers as medical practitioners and mechanical engineers in Cuba.
Mbali Tsotetsi, representing the auditor normal, informed Scopa that the AGSA had really helpful to the minister of defence that every one the agreements be reviewed, and that was being finished.
In a written response to a query from the Inkatha Freedom Celebration in April 2023, then defence minister Thandi Modise mentioned she had “given directions to overview Venture Thusano”.
Tsotetsi made the remarks on Tuesday in response to a query from Scopa chairperson Songezo Zibi.
The Rise Mzansi occasion chief had requested whether or not the auditor normal had seen the bilateral settlement and been capable of confirm if South Africa was “capable of reap the advantages of what the Cubans would do for South Africa, or was it simply straight procurement, outdoors of the framework of the Public Finance Administration Act”.
Tsotetsi mentioned the AG had seen the settlement, which said that “each international locations will cooperate on the issues of defence, however doesn’t specify in what method”.
The supplementary agreements had been extra detailed, she mentioned. “What we famous there, was that it follows procurement processes in a approach, as a result of it says the division of defence will purchase companies, and a part of these companies embrace the repairs of the army automobiles, coaching [of medical professionals and so forth].”
It was the auditor normal’s opinion that the defence division ought to have adopted a procurement course of or, within the absence of a “regular procurement course of”, ought to have obtained a deviation that might justify why the companies had been procured from Cuba.
Within the absence of a deviation being sought from the treasury, it was concluded that the bills that had been incurred could be irregular expenditure, she mentioned.
There was a have to overview the bilateral settlement and the supplementary agreements in order that there was profit to the defence division, not solely Cuba, she mentioned, and that was taking place.
Tsotetsi was joined by colleague Eduard Coetzee, who mentioned the auditor normal had been unable to substantiate that “applicable procurement contract administration processes had been adopted on the outset of the contract” between the international locations.
Up to now, 108 defence members have been despatched to Cuba to check in three medical professions, in response to Coetzee.
The auditor normal has beforehand reported that the defence division paid 136% extra (R2.7 million versus R1.1 million) for a medication scholar finding out in Cuba in contrast with a South African tertiary establishment.
Of the primary cohort of 21 medical college students despatched for coaching in Cuba, solely six efficiently accomplished an 18-month integration course on the College of Pretoria upon their return to South Africa, Coetzee mentioned.
Psychology college students, in the meantime, did not pursue additional {qualifications} required to practise professionally, as an alternative being relegated to administrative roles.
In biomedical engineering, graduates discovered their Cuban {qualifications} unrecognised by South African accreditation our bodies. The Engineering Council of South Africa and the South African {Qualifications} Authority don’t acknowledge the Cuban curriculum, leaving the scholars unable to register and follow of their fields.
“The affect of that is that further spending is incurred in comparison with if these [students] had been skilled in South Africa,” mentioned Coetzee.
The foundation explanation for the failures stemmed from poor planning and execution by the defence division, which didn’t make sure the Cuban curriculum met South African accreditation requirements earlier than enrolling college students, he mentioned.
The programme additionally lacked a transparent profession improvement technique for returning college students, Coetzee added.
With no structured plan for integrating skilled professionals into the workforce, many graduates had been left underused, their abilities wasted.
The absence of alignment with home healthcare priorities additional exacerbated the problem, leaving important medical posts unfilled regardless of the heavy funding in coaching.
The defence division ought to align future programmes with South African accreditation necessities and healthcare priorities, in response to Coetzee and Tsotetsi’s presentation.
Key suggestions included that there be collaboration with the division of well being to ensure that every one coaching programmes meet home statutory and accreditation requirements.
Native coaching establishments must also be prioritised to cut back prices and guarantee {qualifications} are straight relevant to the South African context.
Structured profession improvement pathways must be structured to maximise using skilled professionals and tackle important healthcare shortages.
In October, the auditor normal informed Scopa that the defence division — which acquired a certified audit for 2023-24 — had incurred irregular expenditure of R14.39 billion over the previous 5 years, probably the most, by far, of any authorities division over the identical time frame.