Members of the South African Military Veterans of South Africa marched to the Department of Military Veterans (DMV) in Tshwane on Wednesday regarding the department’s failure and delay in giving them due benefits 32 years into democracy.
According to military veteran Thibane Malaka, who was part of the march, the Military Veterans Act of 2011 enshrines all benefits that are due to them as military veterans, yet the Department of Military Veterans (DMV) is failing to disburse the said benefits to them as veterans.
The veterans marched from Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Hatfield right up to the offices of the DMV singing and toyi-toying spiritedly.
“Our beneficiaries as military veterans are not supported at all by the DMV and this is contrary to what is stipulated in the Act,” complained Malaka.
“We are now 32 years into democracy yet military veterans are still being treated differently; with those who fought as guerillas of Umkhonto We Sizwe (MK) and APLA being regarded as non-statutory forces, while those who were in the apartheid-era army SANDF and Bantustan military entities are being regarded as statutory forces,” he explained.
He said the government was dividing them with the continued use of the terms ” statutory forces” and ” non-statutory forces” when referring to them; that going forward they want to be referred to as one entity as the aim of democracy is to build one nation.
Malaka pointed out that some veterans are now in old age and have chronic ailments, yet they are compelled to stand in long queues when seeking medical help.
He griped over the fact that their dependants are presently not served by the DMV in terms of health; giving an example that should he be involved in an accident together with his son, he will be taken to military hospital while his son will be left to die at the scene of the accident.
He also complained about the fact that many veterans have been trained by the DMV in new skills which are not military-related, yet after completion of such training they are left out in the cold.
He bluntly said the government must help military veterans to open their own businesses so that they can be able to survive.
Some of the demands of the veterans include but are not limited to the following:
1.Finalisation of the verification processes and the establishment of clear turn-around times.
2.Urgent clearance of the database backlog regarding applications and the publication of progress reports.
3.Payment of outstanding pensions.
4.Provision of education and skills.
5.Economic Empowerment.
Chief Director for Skills and Empowerment Programmes in the DMV Sihle Dlungwana accepted the memorandum of the veterans on behalf of the DMV and revealed that in most cases the demands of the veterans are not addressed as there are many vacant positions in the top structures of the DMV.
“We do understand the things that you are raising here today and I shall pass the memorandum to the higher echelons of the DMV,” said Dlungwana.
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