Shameless or humanitarian? Mashaba and EFF weigh in on R50m donation to Cuba

ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba and the EFF have weighed in on the department of international relations and co-operation's decision to return to court to argue its case regarding a R50m donation to Cuba after an interdict was granted.

The Pretoria high court this week granted lobby group AfriForum an urgent interdict preventing the department making the donation and ordered it to pay the costs of the application.

However, minister of international relations and co-operation Naledi Pandor and her department are preparing to return to court in 20 days.

She said the department is consulting its legal representatives and preparing its heads of arguments.

Commenting on Pandor's decision, Mashaba said she was shamelessly using the country's limited resources.

“The minister to shamelessly continue using our limited resources, through a court process, to fight a case to donate SA funds to Cuba when 54% of South Africans live below the poverty line,” said Mashaba.

The EFF said the court “prematurely succumbed to baseless and misinformed arguments” by granting the interdict.

The party said it was consulting its legal team to finalise an application to support the government on the matter. 

It said Cuba helped spread humanitarian and practical support for nations “deliberately underdeveloped and conquered by the West”.

“It is Cuba that sent doctors’ aid all across the world while under pressure of sanctions and trade for its social-economic policies,” said the EFF.

“The money to be donated to Cuba is not for politicians, it is for the people of Cuba, who sent their sons and daughters to Africa in our defence.”

The interdict allowed “racists who have no concern about African life in SA to tell us that relations with our brothers and sisters in revolution amount to wasteful expenditure”.