(Budget vote debate in Parliament: Defence and Military Veterans)
The Military Veterans Act of 2011 clearly stipulates that all members of the country's national defence force, including those who served before 1994, qualify as military veterans.
The Act determines that a military veteran is (a) any South African citizen who rendered military service to any of the military organisations, statutory or otherwise, which were involved on all sides of South Africa's Liberation War from 1960 to 1994.
And it is also someone who (b) served in the Union Defence Force before 1961; or (c) became a member of the new South African National Defence Force (SANDF) after 1994, and has completed his or her military training, and no longer performs military service, and has not been dishonourably discharged.
This also includes those who could not complete their military training due to an injury sustained during military training or a disease contracted or associated with military training.
At this stage, however, it seems that there is an assumption that members who served before 1994 do not qualify as military veterans. That is not true.
Here particular mention must be made of coloured members of the Cape Corps (SACCF) who served before 1994. I am inundated with queries from these members, who qualify as military veterans according to the Act's definition, but who do not receive benefits.
There are, of course, certain conditions and the Act stipulates that, among other things, a means test must be used to determine whether someone qualifies for benefits based on their income.
There are also technical requirements that must be met before benefits can be claimed, for instance, the claimant must be registered as a military veteran with the relevant Department.
The FF Plus is aware of members who meet all the requirements to receive benefits, but are denied this due to bureaucratic stumbling blocks.
The party is, thus, calling on the Minister, Thandi Modise, to urgently address the matter so that the soldiers who served their country can receive the benefits which they are entitled to. Regardless of which side of the fight they were on.
Another matter that needs the Minister's urgent attention is the inflated top structures of the SANDF. At present, there are more than 400 generals of which only 97 are filling strategic positions.
More than 300 are simply completing administrative tasks. It must not be allowed that members, particularly former Umkhonto we Sizwe members, are given high-ranking positions so that they can retire comfortably.
