Programme Director
HOD, Maj. Gen. Dr Mokgethi Radebe
DDG for Health Services, Dr Andrew Robinson
Senior Managers, other programme managers and officials of the department
Parents of our medical students
Baithuti ba re leng fano ka bona gompieno
Kemedi ya Friends of Cuba
Distinguished guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
Dumelang Bagaetsho!
I am as excited as all of you today.I know the parents are over the moon about the opportunity that the department has been given to their children and I know that the aspirant and future medical doctors are more excited than all of us here today.I am here to firstly congratulate our learners on their achievements.Well done! You deserve this success.I need to hasten though, that today we are only opening doors for you to strive for more success.I am also here today to bid you farewell as you will be departing to Cuba within the next few days.
Ke solofela gore jaaka ele gore gompieno ke boitumelo jo bogolo mo go rona, re tla bona maungo a se re leng fano ka sona mo nakong ee tlang.Bangwe ba lona ba tla simolola lwantlha go pagama sefofane mme ke tshepa gore mo go lona lotlhe, ga go na ope yo o kileng a tshela mawatle.Jaanong, kgetlho la ntlha mo matshelong a lona, ebile ka nako e le nngwe fela, go diragala dilo tse pedi tse e eleng gore batho ba le bantsi ba di eletsa fela.Ke soolofela gore rotlhe re dumalana fela ka bongwe jwa pelo gore, ke tshono e kgolo thata mo go lona.
So this is indeed a great achievement for all of you who have made the final twelve. You are now going to face yet another challenge which is six years of serious commitment to your studies in a foreign land. Once you complete your six years in Cuba, we will be waiting for you to come back and do your community work in our rural facilities. We are sending you to Cuba, so that you may come back to work in our disadvantaged communities and this is something you must be prepared for.The whole country is in dire need of medical doctors. Now you can imagine how serious this challenge is, in a rural province like ours.
This programme is in line with government’s priority of rural development which seeks to improve the general state of service delivery in rural areas. As the Department of Health, we contribute to this mandate by improving health conditions and services in rural areas. So this South African-Cuban Medical programme was initiated with this mandate in mind.
The working conditions of our professionals in rural areas continue to improve.We will not just send to rural areas but we will ensure that we provide you with the necessary tools to do your work.For example, we have built modern doctors and nurses homes in rural health facilities where our doctors can stay there in comfort and sometimes even with their own families.
The new health dispensation requires of us to provide scarce skills and rural allowance for all our doctors who work in rural areas. With these benefits and compared to other developing countries, surely we should agree that South Africa is doing its best to look after its work force. This we must view against the challenges we are faced with, the burden of diseases that takes much from the little resources at our disposal and the general service delivery needs that we must meet for our communities to lead sustainable livelihoods.
We are hoping that Cuban Medical programme will eventually assist us to improve on our patient-doctor ratio.It was indicated that, we had 25000 registered doctors against a population of 40 000 in South Africa by 2007. Surely this programme should assist us to close this gap so that we may have a better patient-doctor contact.We need to see more doctors and specialist visiting our clinics and communities health centres where our people live.
As an aspirant medical doctor, you must have already heard that our country is introducing the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHI).The Cubans will want to know more from you about this issue. They will want to know how far our country is with implementation of the NHI. As a patriotic South African we expect you to represent us well.By so doing, it is a national duty for you to go and defend policies of your country.
NHI is now a national policy. When they ask you about NHI, you must say, it is a policy that will allow all South Africans especially the poor to have access to quality health care irrespective of where they live or how much the earn. Health care is a right which is entrenched in our constitution and all South Africans must have access to health care.
Mokgatlho wa African National Congress (ANC) e rile ka nako ya kgaratlho wa nna le dítsala di tshwana le naga ya Cuba koo lo yang go ithuta teng.Cuba e itse sentle ka seo re ratang go se fitlhelela ka lenaane le la South African - Cuban Medical Programme.
Maitlhomo magolo a lenaane le ke go bona naga ya rona, e na le dingaka tse di lekaneng, baagi ba rona ba bona kalafi e e maleba, malwetsi a fokotsega ebile go na le ditlhabologo mo magaeng a rona.
Go botlhokwa thata gore fa ke tsamaya fa, ke simolole go lo laya jaaka motsadi mme ke solofela gore batsadi ba lona le bona ba ntse ba leka go kgalema le go lo simega mo kgwetlhong ee lo lebaneng e. Go ya ka maitemogelo a rona, le baithuti ba ba setseng ba tswa Cuba, go na le bothata jwa maitsholo.Re kgalema ngwaga e nngwe le e nngwe.
Ill-discipline has threatened the good intentions of sending our children to study medicine in Cuba. You are going to a foreign land and I urge you to represent us well and not to let us down.There are things we do not tolerate in this programme.One is ill-discipline, we are totally against ill-discipline in any form. We will take swift disciplinary actions against any bad habits like irresponsible drinking, use of drugs and violence. The rules of this programme dictate that I do not have to hesitate to take action. One mistake, you will be on a one way ticket back to South Africa.
One other thing, you cannot afford to get pregnant while on this programme.If you want to be a mother, stay home. Don’t waist our time and money by allowing us to put you on this programme when you know you want to have a baby. When are you going to study when you have time to make a baby and to take care of. So, similarly if you get pregnant while on this programme, you will immediately be withdrawn and given a one way ticket back home.
Like I said earlier, let us take this opportunity with both hands. May you not forget where you come from. Remember that you may possibly be facing a bleak future, sitting at home with nothing to do had you not had this opportunity. As you celebrate your achievement, remember you have a goal in mind.
Go to Cuba and come back a medical doctor to serve our communities.
I wish you all success and the best in everything on your journey and on your studies in Cuba.
I thank you!
Enquiries:
Ngwako Motsieng
Tel: 018 387 5830
Cell: 082 964 8838
Fax: 018 387 5794
E-mail: nmotsieng@nwpg.gov.za
