Hon Deputy Speaker, the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry heard on 9 May what the Department had to say regarding this particular agreement. We deliberated upon it and there were strong arguments for and against - notwithstanding the support that Cuba gave South Africa over many, many years.
As was stated in the committee, South Africa has, if nothing else, at the very least a humanitarian obligation to assist a country that so readily came to our assistance, not only when we were isolated as it were, but also after our own people's democracy, when they came at government's request to assist us in the medical area and in the area of teaching, just to mention two, and received the same remuneration as any other doctor or teacher in the Public Service.
Now what does this amount to? What paltry sum are we talking about here? The agreement is divided into three facilities. Facility A consists of a R40 million grant for the purchase of seeds - seeds to feed the people there, to grow things!
Facility B of the agreement is a R100 million solidarity grant. And may I say that that caused such a furore! Solidarity! Yet you hear it all the time in the EU. They are talking about solidarity. They are not members of the ANC. [Interjections.]