Nicole Fritz and Rehana Rossouw
Mongezi Stofile was one of thousands of former MK members who reported this week to the Doornkop military base outside Johannesburg to demobilise from the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).
He no longer wishes to serve in the military, and went to Doornkop to take advantage of a package offered by the SANDF in an attempt to cut down the size of the permanent force. MK personnel are being offered a lump sum payment of between R12 734 and R42 058, depending on their length of service.
Stofile is pragmatic about the process, admitting that most former MK members wanted to get the money and run.
He began working underground for MK in 1974, but only officially joined in 1979. He is now working for a cellphone company. He is fortunate, as being employed, he is not dependent on the payment offered by the SANDF. Many others are.
Yasmina Pandy, of Cape Town, is an unemployed former MK member. She discovered, when Western Cape MK members demobilised last week, that despite filling in forms two years ago to be included on MK’s Central Personnel Register (CPR), she has not been listed. Pandy is among at least 15 former MK members in Cape Town who are battling to have their names included on the register.
This week she consulted lawyers about bringing legal action against Defence Minister Joe Modise, in an attempt to claim what she believes is rightfully hers. I was recruited into MK in 1986, and although there were no membership forms, there was never any doubt that I was a member. The former regime certainly believed I was one, they charged me with terrorism and held me for a year and three months, she said.
Pandy lost her patience late last year when her husband’s name was included on the register. He went to a cocktail party where Ronnie Kasrils [deputy minister of defence] was present. He raised his problem, and now his name is on the list. Does it depend whether you go to the right cocktail parties to get on to the list?
A Western Cape MK spokesman said the organisation realised there were some genuine cases surfacing of people who were omitted from the CPR list. He said the organisation would try to assist them and did not want to delay the integration process further.
We can’t go on with this process until doomsday. We have to try and stick to deadlines. The onus was on MK members to ensure that their names were on the list. There were no large-scale administrative problems on our side and we are not aware of any fraud, the spokesman said.
SANDF spokesman Colonel Riaan Louw said Pandy’s problem had nothing to do with the army as the CPR list was drafted by the ANC and MK.
MK cadres who integrated into the SANDF are also unhappy with the pensions offered to them. People who joined the SADF were eligible for pensions from the day they joined the army. I’m only eligible from the time of integration, said Donald Homan, who also reported to Doornkop.
Louw said ANC members who had integrated will receive no extra payment. They get all the privileges other SANDF members enjoy. They get a monthly salary and a pension plan.
MK members are also dissatisfied with the Service Corps, established by the SANDF to train soldiers in practical skills to help equip them for civilian life.
Johannesburg former MK member Benedict Mokoena said the corps was not well organised. People who have been there for more than eight months have done nothing.
Tony Yengeni, chairman of Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Defence, said the corps’s problem was a lack of funds. R141-million donated by the Taiwanese government to assist with the re-integration of soldiers into society had been spent on building a vocational training centre, and more money was needed to run the courses.
To prevent economic, social and political problems, the committee appealed to the executive to allocte money to the Service Corps, Yengeni said. The money has not yet been allocated.