The Democratic Alliance on Friday appealed to Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota to give urgent attention to the plight of ”neglected veterans”, and establish a dedicated office to deal with the matter.
Speaking during debate on the defence department’s budget in the National Assembly, DA MP Philip Schalkwyk said assistance to veterans of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) and the Azanian People’s Liberation Army (Apla) had now been finalised.
”What remains is to attend to the plight of what I have defined as the neglected veterans who served in the old Union Defence Force, the SA Defence Force and in the TBVC forces.”
Most were destitute and without jobs. They had spent years and years in the service of the government at the time, with no opportunity to contribute to a pension fund, nor did they have the money to subscribe to a private annuity fund, he said.
Lekota and the National Assembly’s defence committee chair Thandi Modise had both, in the Assembly, acknowledged the existence of these problems.
Schalkwyk said that after he had briefed the Military Veterans Advisory Board on the matter, it had met veterans in Kimberley and Cape Town, and intended visiting groups in the Vaal Triangle, Port Elizabeth, Durban and the Karoo.
”Once they have gathered all the information, the question that arises, is ‘so what?’.
”They have done some very constructive work and must be complimented. Since these meetings of theirs there have been no protest marches against the president or the minister of defence.
”But we have to do something with the information gathered,” he said.
The board could only advise Lekota but could not resolve problems.
Schalkwyk proposed a dedicated office be established for these veterans, similar to that which served the MK, with similar functions.
”I know that you will tell me that there is a Veterans Administration Directorate, but I can assure you that with their present structure they will not be able to cope with this huge problem.
”Once this office is functioning I will feel that we have achieved something important,” Schalkwyk said.
In her speech, Deputy Defence Minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge said the department and government had realised there might have been an oversight in drawing up the Special Pensions Bill, later signed into law.
”Many deserving members of the liberation movements were left out of the ambit of the Act.”
The legislation was currently being amended to rectify issues that were overlooked, and was expected to be enacted this year, she said. – Sapa