Between 1997 and 2009 the South African government sent 624 students to the Cuba to study medicine, Beeld reported.
In October 2011, Precious Matsoso, the director-general of health, said that up until then only 257 of the students had qualified as doctors.
Six medical students from South Africa studying on scholarship in Cuba had reportedly returned home following a disagreement about their allowance, wasting over R2m as a result.
The students were more than halfway through their six-year training programme, which cost the government R500,000 a student.
They decided to quit after going on strike about food and their monthly allowance of R1,600, which they wanted increased to around R5,600.
On Friday (8 March), health department spokesman Joe Maila said the department was saddened by the students' decision.
"Money was the main thing that they wanted, and we made it clear that we were not going to increase their stipend," he said. "We are extremely disappointed, as we were doing everything for them. They are unreasonable because the issue of diet was not a big problem."
Source: Sapa via I-Net Bridge
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