Cuban doctors to cost SA R239m, Zweli Mkhize tells parliament

The Cuban doctors seconded to SA to help in the fight against Covid-19 will cost the state just over R239m, health minister Zweli Mkhize has revealed.

Provinces will pay millions more for accommodating the brigade until April 2021.

Mkhize told DA MP Siviwe Gwarube, in a written reply to parliamentary questions, that Cuba had made 187 medical specialists available to help SA in the response to the coronavirus pandemic.

He said they worked in areas in which the country was struggling to produce enough experts.

They are biostatisticians, epidemiologists, family physicians and health technologists.

The group is made up of the following specialists:

• 116 family physicians;
• 32 health technologists;
• 18 epidemiology technologists;
• 13 biostatisticians;
• two public health specialists;
• five biomedical engineers; and
• one nurse.

“All of them,” was how Mkhize responded to Gwarube’s question on the total number of Cuban medical personnel who were proficient in English and/or in any other official SA language.

Mkhize’s response shows that R239,181,933 had been budgeted for salaries.

“The estimated budget cost is informed by actual appointment levels of the Cuban health brigade as determined by their registration category, which took into consideration years of experience,” he said.

“All the family physicians and biostatisticians are appointed at grade 2 of medical officer level, and epidemiology technologists/health technology and public health specialists are at deputy director level, while biomedical engineers are at ASD level.”

A further R734,100 would be paid for their registration with the Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA), but this money would later be recouped from the doctors, Mkhize said.

It is the norm that registration costs are paid by individual health professionals to the council.

“However, as per the government-to-government agreement, the SA [government] pays the fee to the HPCSA and, thereafter, deducts the full amount for registration from the individual health professionals’ first salary,” he said.

“This means there is no actual cost to be incurred by the government.

“However, it is a convenient process arranged to ensure that all of the professionals are registered accordingly.”

Regarding accommodation, Mkhize said most provinces had entered into agreements with providers for a 12-month period.

Other provinces were only accommodating the brigade for May and June, before moving them to hotspot districts and communities.

“Therefore, the accommodation in these areas is still not confirmed, as negotiations are still under way.”

He said provinces first considered doctors’ quarters where the brigade would be stationed.

Those who had been deployed in the Eastern Cape were staying in B&Bs and should be accommodated for the full period of their contract, he said.

The province has budgeted R384,000 for this.

In the Free State, the brigade is being accommodated at the Premier Hotel in Bloemfontein, while undergoing orientation.

Mkhize’s response showed that the doctors would be accommodated there at a cost of R162,464 for May and June.

From July 1, they will be distributed to facilities across the province and stay in facility accommodation.

The Free State has budgeted an extra R595,000 for this.

Gauteng negotiated a R1,000 rate per room including breakfast, lunch and dinner, laundry services and hand sanitation at Burgers Park Hotel.

This is where the doctors have been staying since May 15 and will stay until June 30.

It is expected that these doctors will be distributed across the province from July 1 to April 2021, and their accommodation will then be provided by hospitals.

In Limpopo, doctors have been accommodated at Zanami Lodge in Polokwane while being orientated. This will cost the province R252,000.

In the Northern Cape, the brigade is staying at B&Bs until some time in June at a cost of R320,000.

Like Gauteng and Limpopo, the Northern Cape indicated that, once the doctors were distributed across the province from July 1 to April 2021, their accommodation would then be provided for by hospitals.

The brigades had already been distributed across the North West’s provincial districts, and they were staying in B&Bs and hospital accommodation, Mkhize said.

The cost of their stay in the province between June 2020 and April 2021 will be just over R2m.

In the Western Cape, the doctors are accommodated at the four-star Icon Luxury apartments in Cape Town at R1.2m for 12 months.

Information from KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga was outstanding.