Deputy of Minister of Water and Sanitation, Ms. Pamela Tshwete, recently signed an agreement to extend the RSA-Cuba Cooperation Agreement to 2023. The agreement is between the ministry and Cuba’s Institute of National Hydraulic Resources (INHR).
The Committee Meeting served the purpose of review and evaluation of the Agreement Cooperation in the field of Water Resource Management and Water Supply. The meeting also focused on identifying areas of improvement on the same. As a result, the two countries agreed to extend the contracts of the Cuban engineers.
The agreement makes provision for the Department of Water and Sanitation and the Institute of National Hydraulic Resources to co-operate in the areas of geo-hydrology and engineering services. Furthermore, the implementation of this program has been on-going for the past eighteen months. In addition, specialists have been placed in different clusters in all nine provinces where future engineers are undergoing mentorship.
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Registration with ECSA
The Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) said they will speedily process requests from Cuban engineers. The requests are for recognition as professional specialists. This is because currently, ESCA does not recognize the Cubans’ qualifications. This also includes their type of work  in the country.
Ms. Tshwete said South Africa will forever be grateful to Cubans for their generosity in sharing their knowledge and skills in the water sector. INRH Vice President, Mr Bladimir Matos Moya, said they will assist South Africa improve water supplies to the next level. According to him Cubans have directed South Africa to identify its specific training needs for attendance.
