Why does third world South Africa need to write off R1 billion ($130 billion) of Cuban debt?

Well it is because they regard him as a "living legend" http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/Politics/0,,2-7-12_2274252,00.html because he supplied 300 000 troops to support umkontwe sisizwe to fight the SADF.......It seems Fidel liberated the "poor" Cubans into the greatest poverty ever....The ANC obviously think the poorer SA gets the better.

SA wants to lead by example. In the bank that i work, the write off's are astronomical. One department consistently write off R20 mill a month. this is bad debt that is unrecoverable. SA knows that Cuba will not be able to repay the debt. I am not saying that this is correct, but why hold onto something that you know you are not going to get any return for?

My sentiments exactly. If they're cancelling Cuba's debt then they should relax tax laws in South Africa.

As Lise says - we regard him as a legend. Here in Durban they have named a street after him, I did not know why, but what Lise says now puts it into perspective.

Interesting. You make a very strong case. You must remember SA has been one of the countries calling for writing-off of 3rd world debt. So we have to lead by example. I agree with you but this how things stand.

"It also noted his deployment of more than 300 000 Cuban troops to Angola to assist the country and Umkhonto weSizwe in the battle against the SA Defence Force." I know a few people that fought on the SADF side of that war. Those Cubans were slaughtered. Their remains were trucked off in flat bed trucks and dumped in mass graves. They uncovered the graves about 2 years ago. it made the news for a day or two. The the story went silent when they realized who was in the grave. The people I spoke to say Castro sent them here to die because there are limited resources in Cuba and he wanted to shrink the population. You can still find many in Angola.

Firstly you have misquoted the figures, based on an exchange quoted at R1 = 12c (US$) I calculate the actual value of the debt to be cancelled as ( $US 77,233,333.-). "Cape Town - Cabinet has approved the cancellation of a R926.8m debt owed by Cuba to South Africa, government communications head Themba Maseko said on Thursday. The debt arose out of insurance cover provided to Cuba by the Export Credit Insurance Corporation of SA for the export of diesel engines and pesticides in 1996, he told a media briefing following Wednesday's regular Cabinet meeting" This question shows a limited and localised understanding of WORLD AFFAIRS. Now, everyone knows that the Yanks are penalising foreign businesses that deal with Cuba so closing accounts and writing off debts is an economic strategy that results in part from US economic aggression. Countries cannot, at least up until now, resist the Yankee dollar or afford American sanctions. The Washington Mob know this and exploit politics for their own economic ends, either you with us or against us. According to 2007 figures South Africa's GDP was US$ 576.4 billion, so I calculuate (now the numbers are getting big...and I have a kak calculator...LOLL) the figure to be cancelled to represetn 0.69% of the total GDP of South Africa- not much really these days. Whereas the AIDS epidemic could cost South Africa as much as 17% in GDP growth by 2010. Third World countries, as you claim both Cuba and South Africa be, should help each other and likewise should not be indebted to each other . Is it not hypocritical of nations to cry about debt and then have debtors....?. It can also not be denied that Cuba has obviously been a friend to the South African left and the anti-apartheid movement and that Cuba does a lot of good work in Africa sending doctors and teachers- there is a good feeling towards Havana in the Developing World. South Africa are one of the, I believe, 148 (against) 2 UN nations that have voted against the illegal Yankee blockade and economic warfare that the Washington Mob have waged against Havana for the last 50 years. ______________________________________… HASTA LA VITTORIA SIEMPRE!