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South Africa gives Cuba $31 million economic aid

South Africa has agreed to provide Cuba with more than $30 million in “economic assistance”, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies has announced.

The money — 350 million rand or about $31 million — would be used for agricultural development and the reconstruction of infrastructure following hurricane damage in 2008.

“It is envisaged that the package will stimulate bilateral trade relations between South Africa and Cuba,” Davis said in a statement published Saturday.

The agreement includes a 40 million rand grant to purchase seeds from South Africa and elsewhere in the world, a 100 million rand “solidarity grant” to buy goods from South Africa, and a 210 million rand credit line.

President Jacob Zuma offered the deal to Cuba during his state visit in December 2010, but implementation was delayed for a number of reasons, Davies said.

The main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, criticised the agreement, the South African Press Association reported.

“This 350 million rand giveaway to Cuba is a misuse of public money. We condemn this handout in the strongest terms,” lawmaker Geordin Hill-Lewis said.

“The cash crunch in South Africa’s budget is well known. We cannot afford to hand out money to Cuba for no other purpose than to maintain the political ties.

“It is a tragic irony that South Africa is helping to fund a regime that denies its citizens the same democratic freedoms that were so hard won in our own country,” he said.

Cuba supported the liberation struggle by Zuma’s ruling African National Congress against South Africa’s former apartheid regime.