I have struggled to resist the temptation to comment on the recruitment of Cubans to this country to solve water and sanitation problems. But now I must ask one question that's been bothering me: What happened to all the people SA has trained to do an excellent job in water treatment?

In the course of our nursing training, there would be a day when we would be taken as a group to visit a water treatment plant.

There, we would be taken through the whole process by an expert trained in water treatment and sanitation. Preservation of water would always be emphasised. In those days free-flowing sewage was unthinkable; communities were always assured of an uninterrupted supply of clean water. What went wrong?

SA has an unemployment rate of more than 32.5% while the youth unemployment rate is more than 55.75%. Would it not be wise to use South Africans qualified in the field of water treatment and sanitation to empower some of the unemployed youth who would be interested in undergoing such training?

First it was SA doctors who were overlooked while Cuban doctors were prioritised, and now it's Cuban engineers. I don't mean to be petty but I think this is a bit unfair.

• Cometh Dube-Makholwa, Midrand