SA provides Cuba with R350m in economic assistance By Busines Day Live september 26 2014
SA has signed an agreement to provide Cuba with R350m in economic assistance, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said on Friday.
"The signing ceremony today concludes the process of amending the agreement and the package is now available for potential exporters to take advantage of," he said.
President Jacob Zuma had made the offer to Cuba during his state visit in December 2010, Mr Davies said. The agreement was originally signed in February 2012, but the implementation was delayed and amendments needed to be made.
The money would be used for agricultural development and reconstruction of infrastructure following hurricane damage in 2008.
"Further, it is envisaged that the package will stimulate bilateral trade relations between SA and Cuba."
The aid agreement included a R40m grant to purchase seeds from SA and elsewhere, a R100m solidarity grant to purchase goods from SA and a R210m credit line.
The Democratic Alliance criticised the aid. "This R350m giveaway to Cuba is a misuse of public money… We condemn this handout in the strongest terms," MP Geordin Hill-Lewis said.
"The cash crunch in SA’s budget is well known. We cannot afford to hand out money to Cuba for no other purpose than to maintain the political ties."
There was no value in the deal for SA, he said.
"We should not be strengthening our ties with governments that do not respect basic constitutional and democratic principles.
"It is a tragic irony that SA is helping to fund a regime that denies its citizens the same democratic freedoms that were so hard won in our own country."
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