Dylan Bettencourt
It has been confirmed by the Department of Health that young people who are seen being assaulted in a video filmed in Cuba, are South African students.
The Department of International Relations and Cooperations (Dirco) are set to investigate the altercation between the students who are in the country to study medicine and the local police outside of a hostel in Santa Clara.
“The department, working with other relevant authorities, has initiated a process to investigate circumstances which led to this unfortunate incident,” said Department of Health spokesperson Foster Mohale.
“The findings of the investigation will be communicated to all the affected parties, including families of the students.”
The video, which is only 30 seconds long, shows a student sitting with his hands tied behind his back and an officer grabbing him by the neck and slapping him on the chest.
The remainder of the video shows two other students getting slapped in the face while officers dragged another individual away as screams of protest are heard throughout the video.
“The students claim they were having a birthday celebration inside the hostel.
“Someone complained about the noise and called the cops. Instead of shutting down the music, the students were beaten,” the students claim.
They are said to be a part of the Nelson Mandela/Fidel Castro Medical Collaboration Programme between the two nations that was established in 1997 which aims to address the shortage of medical workers in underprivileged areas.
Dirco said it was working with Cuban authorities to verify the video and gain a better understanding about what took place.
“The South African Government is aware of the video purporting to involve South African students in Cuba. Dirco is working with relevant authorities to investigate the situation,” the Department said in a statement.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) earlier this year called for the return of the South African students as the future doctors complained about poor living conditions in the country with some of them having to sell their clothes because they were not receiving their stipends from the government.
