# Cuban technicians fix thousands of SANDF vehicles

- Link: https://www.military.africa/2022/03/cuban-technicians-fixes-thousand-of-sandf-vehicles/
- Published: 2022-03-18T08:12:00+01:00
- Author: Sarah Lesedi

Close to a hundred Cuban military mechanics and technicians from the Caribbean Island
nation’s military have refurbished and repaired more than 10,000 Samil and similar
vehicles of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).

Over R277 million have been spent on repairing and preserving military vehicles,
Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Defence and Military Veterans (PCDMV) was
informed.

Brigadier-General BG Mtsweni of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) Logistics 
Division’s SA Forces Institute (SAFI) outlined in a presentation to the committee
about the 10-year life to date of the Cuba/South African defence bilateral agreement.

Around 7,750 SA Army vehicles, ranging from Samil trucks through to Mamba personnel
carriers, Mfezi ambulances, and recovery units have been given a new lease on life.

Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces specialist personnel were deployed at vehicle parks
and military workshops sited at, among others, Potchefstroom and Wallmannsthal under
Project Thusano for the maintenance, repair, and refurbishment of military vehicles.

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The SANDF had earlier complained that it was being charged excessively by local 
companies for doing the work and there was insufficient in-house capacity. Cuban
personnel also mentored and provide mechanic-type training to SA Army Technical 
Services Corps (TSC) personnel.

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However, a total of R277,625,161.40 has been expended on Thusano. Project Thusano
director, Brigadier-General Joseph Tyhalisi, explained the presence of the Cubans:“
The project was the result of a decline in the core capability of our technical 
service. In assessing this, we decided to look at what kept the Cubans going through
the years of the US trade embargo. Even now, they have vehicles manufactured around
1940 still running. They also manufactured spares and did not rely on supplies from
any country.”

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The Cuban contingent has, in addition to its numerous taskings across three services,
also done skills transfer. This, according to the Ministerial reply, saw 1 386 SANDF
personnel forming part of the project’s skills transfer component with 319 of them
receiving “official qualifications” and 483 transferred back to and working at their
original units.

Additionally, Cubans are helping SAMHS with medical services during the ongoing 
COVID-19 pandemic as well as, on research, development, manufacturing and installation
of combat driving and shooting simulators and automated shooting ranges.

Cuban medical team also performed procedures ranging from taking blood, resuscitation,
PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests, administering drugs, “vein channelling” and
processing laboratory studies to “nursing procedures” as well as bat

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