“MASHATILE HAS FAILED US,” SAY LIBERATION WAR VETERANS

Members of the Liberation Struggle War Veterans of South Africa (LSWV-SA) opine that Deputy President Paul Mashatile has failed them as he has failed to implement resolutions of the Presidential Task Team (PTT).

Members of the Liberation Struggle War Veterans of South Africa (LSWV-SA) in Union Buijdings in Pretoria photo by Dimakatso Modipa

The LSWV members made this sentiment clear when the converged at the Union Buildings in Tshwane on Monday to highlight their plight and deliver their memorandum to President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The PTT was established in 2020 as recommended by then Deputy President, the late DD Mabuza with strong endorsement by President Ramaphosa.

“We wrote a letter on the 30th of March 2026 and another one on 8 April 2026 informing the President that we will pay him a visit at the Union Buildings regarding our plight as members of the Liberation Struggle War Veterans of South Africa,” said Lwazi Mzobe, LSWV President.

“We want the President to know that everything that was agreed upon in 2020 in terms of the Presidential Task Team has not been implemented,” lamented Mzobe.

“Some of the issues that have to be implemented include the manner in which working streams perform their tasks because at the moment we are clueless in this regard and don’t even know as to who they report to,” he said.

“In 2022 then Deputy President DD Mabuza who was chairing the Presidential Task Team meetings agreed that we must take part in working streams, but now we are told that the resolutions of the Presidential Task Team shall be implemented without our participation,” he said.

“We have been waiting for 31 years now for the government to address our plight as members of the LSWV and we can’t wait any longer, so we want to actively participate in the implementation of the resolutions set out in the Presidential Task Team,” enthused Mzobe.

“We are here to tell the President that the Presidential Task Team has failed us and as the Commander-in-Chief he is the one who must ultimately address our plight, the buck stops with him,” he said.

“When Paul Mashatile assumed the position of Deputy President of this country in 2024 we started writing letters to him; about 11 or 12 up to now, seeking an audience with him regarding the ineptitude nature of the Presidential Task Team but up to now Mashatile has not bothered to respond and we therefore believe that there is nothing that he can do for us,” fumed Mzobe.

Though President Ramaphosa delegated Mashatile to meet the LSWV members, they made it clear that Mashatile has failed them; that they don’t want to speak to him; that he ( Mashatile) must go to President Ramaphosa and admit to him that he has failed members of the LSWV; that the members of LSWV now want to speak directly to President Ramaphosa.

“We think the reports that President Ramaphosa receives from whoever informs him about our plight are false and one-sided and we say Ramaphosa must listen to both parties in this matter,” he said.

To his fellow struggle war veterans Mzobe said the following:

“Commanders, what we started in 2020 regarding our plight is still continuing and has not yet come to an end, and we will keep you updated about developments in this regard and we hope that when we leave the Union Buildings today, we shall be having a clear direction as to where we stand regarding our plight,” said a determined Mzobe.

For the memorandum of the LSWV -SA please see attached.

President Letter(1)