[Nelson Mandela was a firm friend of the Cubans who came to Africa to fight the whites, especially the South African army. Whenever you see the current Govt reaching out to the Chinese or the Cubans, then you know they're reaching out to "old comrades", to use their communist terminology. Jan]

The Free State government has welcomed the deployment of 17 Cuban doctors to assist the province in the fight against the coronavirus.

By Monday evening, the province had recorded 163 cases of infections, with six deaths registered.

Free State Department of Health spokesperson Mondli Mvambi said the doctors will be deployed to all five districts in the province.

"They are here to be integrated into the health teams in the districts as they specialise in oriented primary healthcare for a preventative healthcare service.

"This deployment of Cuban health professionals is highly beneficial to South Africa as it is targeted at strengthening the health system. It further cements the strong ties that already exist between these two countries, with the Free State already having the largest contingent of its medical students having studied in Cuba.

"The Ministry of Health has done everything according to prescripts in order to protect both the Cuban health professionals as well as the South Africans," Mvambi said.

Health MEC Montseng Tsiu said the department was facilitating their [Cuban doctors] registration with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) and inducting them before they can practice medicine in the country.

Source: https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/coronavirus-free-state-ready-to-put-17-cuban-doctors-to-work-in-the-province-20200518?utm_source=24.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=_3781_+_33796105_+_51671_&utm_term=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.news24.com%2FSouthAfrica%2FNews%2Fcoronavirus-free-state-ready-to-put-17-cuban-doctors-to-work-in-the-province-20200518