South Africa continues to wait unhurriedly for explanations of the University authorities of Villa Clara after the incident that occurred last November in which several young medical students from their country were beaten by the Cuban police when they were having a party that got out of control.
Sibongiseni Dhlomo, South African Deputy Minister of Health, intervened on Tuesday in Cape Town before a commission of the National Council of Provinces (upper house of Parliament), where he was asked about the investigation he announced a few days after the event. The politician assured that his government is still waiting for an explanation, but claimed that the students were bothering him.
“The students were beaten by the police on campus during a birthday party that was supposed to start at 7:00 p.m., but it finally started at 9:00 p.m. and lasted until the wee hours of the morning.”
“The students were beaten by the police on campus during a birthday party that was supposed to start at 7:00 p.m., but it finally started at 9:00 p.m. and lasted until the wee hours of the morning. It is not yet known who He called the police, but the students say the officers asked them to turn down the music because it was too loud for the time, “he said.
According to Dhlomo, the Villa Clara University of Medical Sciences reported the incident to the provincial leadership, which has established a commission to investigate the matter. “We will wait for the results. We will meet with the attaché in Cuba this week,” he said.
The event was known thanks to a video shared in a massive way to denounce the exaggerated violence with which the National Revolutionary Police put down the party in the Santa Clara shelter where it took place.
“Walk, come on, upstairs!” The policemen said to the young people. “Record video, record video!” Could be heard in the English video.
After the controversy generated by the images that showed the excessive force of the Cuban police, the South African Ministry of Health assured that would investigate what happened after confirming that the beaten were citizens of their country. However, they apparently trust the Cuban side to know what happened.
On Tuesday, South African parliamentarians asked Dhlomo what his government had done to ensure the safety of South African students abroad, but the reply made no reference to it.
Dhlomo had made some controversial statements last month, when he asked to stop sharing the video of the beaten fellows in a “sensational” way.
Dhlomo had made a controversial statement last month, when he asked that the video of the beaten fellows be stopped “sensationalist” sharing. The official warned that its dissemination had “the potential to harm the families of the students and the diplomatic relations between the governments of South Africa and Cuba.”
Relations between both countries have been very fruitful since the time of Nelson Mandela, although they have continued with their successors in office, all members of the hitherto unbeatable African National Congress party, which in the last elections began to take their toll on cases known corruption these years, something that was noticed in the loss of votes despite maintaining the victory.
This week, Cuba and South Africa they renewed its cooperation agreement in the management of water resources and water supply under which Cuban engineers advise those of the country to improve the maintenance and management of water supply and sanitation infrastructures, especially in rural areas and other disadvantaged communities.
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