Some of the nearly 500 South African medical students stranded in Cuba are demanding that their stipends be paid so that they can pay back loans and get passports and clothes they used as collateral.
One of the 469 fifth-year students who spoke to Sowetan on condition of anonymity said due to the department of health (Doh) not paying stipends for months, they were forced to borrow money from students from other countries, including Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Chad.
The students said they had not received their $200 (about R2,970) allowance since May. They are now owed nearly R9,000 in stipends.
“It’s hard here. Wehaven’t received stipends since May. Since we depend on the stipends for food, it’s very hard now that they stopped paying us. Some of us borrowed money from other students to buy what we need.
“The money [the loans] comes with 40% interest and now we owe a lot of money. Some students had to sell their clothes, some use them as collateral and when some students lend you money they take your passport so that you don’t leave without paying them back,” said one student.
Another student said: “I cannot leave even if the embassy can book our flight. I don’t have my passport and I’m not the only one. Most don’t have them and that’s because our government abandoned us here. When we asked [for answers] we are told that we are not grateful.
“Yes, we are poor and our parents can’t afford to send us to Cuba but we honoured our contract and we passed, now our last step to be official doctors is being stopped by our own government and we have now turned into beggars in a country that is plagued by violence and we are not safe.”
Another frustrated student said female students were forced to sleep with people to get loans to buy food.
“When one [wants to borrow money from a] student from the countries that pay their stipends on time, you must agree to their sexual advances, and you have no choice because you are hungry,” she said.
Department of health spokesperson Popo Maja yesterday said they were hoping that the students would get their stipends by Wednesday.
“The stipend has not been paid due to challenges in transferring funds to Cuba, which are beyond the control of the Doh. The matter is being attended to in consultation with Dirco [the department of international relations and co-operation] and the Treasury, and the stipend will be paid by Wednesday should the new transaction channel/system succeed. Thus, the first flight is planned to depart Cuba immediately thereafter,” Maja said.
He said there had been plans to fly the students back home on Saturday and tomorrow but the students had demanded that their stipends be paid first.
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