Defence and Military Veterans Minister Angie Motshekga has budgeted R158 million for the rollout of military veterans’ pension benefits as part of the department’s commitment to former soldiers.
Speaking during her first defence and military veterans budget vote in Parliament on Monday 15 July, Motshekga took a moment to recognise and honour the military veterans community, “some of whom have paid the supreme sacrifice in the service of our country.”
She explained the Department of Military Veterans (DMV) budget allocation for the 2024/2025 financial year amounts to R864 million, and this includes R158 million for the rollout of pension benefits.
“The DMV is working to improve on the administration in the payment of the military veterans pension benefit and is working with the Government Pensions Administration Agency (GPAA). Over 18 000 applications that are currently under consideration have been received by GPAA since the start of the implementation of this benefit. GPAA is seized with the verification and processing thereof,” Motshekga told Parliament.
Other big items in the DMV budget include R140 million for the compensation of employees; R142 million for administration; and R446 million for the Socio-Economic Branch, which comprises housing, healthcare, wellness and compensation for injuries. The Empowerment and Stakeholder Management branch has been allocated R276 million, which includes education, burial support, skills development, memorialisation, honours and heritage.
One of the challenges facing the DMV is the verification and database for military veterans. As this is “the gateway into the DMV and delivery of benefits, the DMV will be working with the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) to ensure that robust ICT infrastructure is implemented. This will ensure that military veterans are verified and thus enabled to have access to their benefits,” Motshekga said.
In terms of tangible benefits, the DMV has pledged to deliver 750 houses to military veterans over the three-year Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) period including those struggling to settle their mortgage bonds. “This would be in addition to those that have received housing since the inception of the Department, of which 1 095 houses have been handed over to deserving military veterans,” Motshekga said.
Part of the R446 million in socio-economic support for veterans goes towards subsidised healthcare services, “and ensures that 18 650 military veterans have access. 17 691 were provided with health care to date since the sixth administration,” the defence and military veterans minister explained.
“For the Compensation Benefit, in the 2023/24 financial year, the DMV attended to all backlog applications for the benefit. More than 200 military veterans have attended medical assessments.”
In relation to the education support provided to military veterans and their dependents, the DMV plans to increase such support to six hundred beneficiaries in the next financial year. “Thus far, more than 600 beneficiaries have graduated from tertiary institutions in various academic fields ranging from medicine; engineering; accounting; to mention but a few.”
Motshekga said that progress is being made in the repatriation of fallen liberation struggle heroes, whose remains are lying in other countries “and progress is ongoing in this regard. The country must never rest until all these fallen heroes’ remains are repatriated and buried with dignity.”
To address the various challenges in the DMV, from lack of service delivery to slow progress in updating the veterans’ database, a Presidential Task Team (PTT) was established by President Cyril Ramaphosa. Motshekga explained that this provided political support to improving the functioning and efficiencies of the Department.
The PTT has made recommendations for consideration and implementation by the Government and the Department of Military Veterans in particular. The PTT recommended that the Department enters into Protocol Agreements with each province, through the Offices of the Premiers to ensure that roles and responsibilities are clearly defined such that each province can meaningfully identify its contribution to Military Veterans affairs.
