Project Thusano: R1.3bn+ Paid to Cuba for Vehicle Maintenance and Training — Entirely Irregular, Says the Auditor-General

R1.3 billion (2015–21, DoD to Parliament; SIU: all irregular)

documented loss

Under a 2012 bilateral agreement the Department of Defence paid Cuba more than R1.3 billion between 2015 and 2021 for vehicle refurbishment and training, bypassing PFMA procurement entirely: no records, auditors denied access to workshops, no cost-benefit analysis, refurbished Samils "on trestles with no wheels", 28 Cuban-trained engineers with no posts and 52% of trainees without accreditation. The Auditor-General found the spend irregular and medical training 136% costlier than local equivalents; the programme was extended to 2025 and rebranded.

The Record The Evidence What Was Lost Implicated Institutions Sub-files The Paper Trail

The Record

Project Thusano began as a 2012 agreement between the Department of Defence and the Government of Cuba for Cuban technicians to maintain SANDF vehicles and train South African personnel. By June 2022, when the department briefed the Portfolio Committee on Defence alongside the Auditor-General, R1.3 billion had been spent since 2015 — R966 million on servicing — with R277.6 million more projected. None of it had gone through PFMA procurement. There were no records; auditors were denied access to the workshops; no cost-benefit analysis had been done. Refurbished Samil trucks stood "on trestles with no wheels". Twenty-eight engineers trained in Cuba had no posts; 52% of trainees held no SAQA-accredited qualification. Deputy Minister Thabang Makwetla conceded the project did not qualify for the disaster exemptions the department had invoked and acknowledged "poor reporting"; the department called it a "historical imperative".

The Auditor-General's 2023 report found Cuban medical training 136% more expensive than local equivalents. The SIU flagged all expenditure since 2015 as irregular. The programme was extended to January 2025 and renamed Project Kgala. It is the parent of the Heberon drug procurement in this archive.