Hon Deputy Speaker, the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa, has recently signed a deal with Cuba to fill the skills gap of 3 000 engineers in South Africa with 34 Cuban engineers. Any progress and skills development implementation to better the delivery of water in our country, especially for the rural poor who bare the brunt of the lack of infrastructure delivery, is welcomed.
However, Minister Molewa has to tell the millions of South Africans without adequate water infrastructure how their needs will be addressed by the political agreement with a country whose own water and sanitation is in crisis. In fact, it has the highest rate of waterborne disease.
The Minister needs to explain to the rural poor why the learning academy with 1 072 interns has not delivered anything since 2007, and tell us how the Cuban connection is nothing more than political payback to the ANC. Thank you. [Applause.]