South Africans studying to be doctors in Cuba will slaughter goats and a sheep to commemorate Heritage Day, a KwaZulu-Natal politician said on Thursday.
The provincial health minister Sibongiseni Dhlomo, who is visiting the group in Cuba, said the 12 students from KwaZulu-Natal would have their heritage feast on Friday.
“I have never seen young adults so excited at the sight of maize meal. Last year, they requested us to bring maize meal so that they can cook uphuthu [pap],” Dhlomo said.
“We took along five bags of 12.5kg maize meal, which we distributed to the five medical universities as we visited the students.”
A girl from Ladysmith borrowed a big pot, while other students collected money for two goats and a sheep.
Dhlomo is visiting Havana in Cuba as part of the advance team to prepare for the arrival of a new group of students to study medicine there, and to meet the 58 students already in the country.
The meeting with the students already studying was to check that their needs were being taken care of during their six-year stay.
Heritage Day is on September 24. — Sapa