By Amy Musgrave
Deputy President Paul Mashatile has called for a speedy resolution on the provision of benefits and socioeconomic support for military veterans.
He chaired a meeting of the Presidential Task Team on Military Veterans on Friday. It discussed progress on supporting veterans.
A total of 3091 qualifying military veterans have received their pension benefits to date, according to a statement issued by the Presidency.
“[This] demonstrates a steady progress on the pace of the rollout process. The task team has directed the (defence and military veterans) department to fast-track the rollout process and ensure that all qualifying veterans do receive relevant benefits due to them,” it said.
The task team was established by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2020 to provide political oversight in addressing the plight of military veterans.
It includes Defence and Military Veterans Minister Angie Motshekga, her deputy Bantu Holomisa, and Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni.
The team received reports from the conveners of the seven workstreams. They include legislative review, organisational redesign of the department, verification, socioeconomic support, pensions and benefits, and burial support.
The statement said the task team had noted that the department had registered “some significant progress”.
Mashatile acknowledged the important work done to date, however, he said the department must accelerate its implementation plans.
“In responding to the military veterans’ demands and grievances that have been presented to government, we must establish… monitoring [and be] transparent about our progress in meeting the demands of military veterans,” Mashatile said in his closing remarks.
In February this year, Parliament’s portfolio committee on defence and military veterans was told by the department and the Government Pensions Administration Agency that 268 qualifying military veterans had received their pension benefits.
The agency told the committee that it had received over 19,000 applications for military veterans’ pension benefits. At the time it said it expected to have approved and paid at least 4000 applicants by the end of March 2024.
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