The newest addition to the South African landscape of organisations representing military veterans has set itself up as an advocacy group rather than either a lobby or pressure group.
The difference in this approach, at present on behalf of the four thousand plus veterans on its books, can be seen with the route taken by Amalgamated Veterans of South Africa (AVSA) to stir the seemingly administratively dormant Department of Military Veterans (DMV) to life.
Instead of “social media” appeals and entreatments directly to the DMV and accompanied by Parliamentary questions, Ernest Lintnaar and the other people in his four-strong management team approached Public Protector, Advocate Kholeka Gcaleka. An April letter asking for “a full audit” of the DMV with an emphasis on maladministration and veteran suffering was referred to the Military Ombud (Vusi Masondo) as Gcaleka’s Chapter Nine institution said AVSA had not “exhausted legal remedies available”. The advice was taken and Masondo’s organisation has until 22 June to respond. Lintnaar told defenceWeb, dependent on the Ombud’s response, a decision will be made on further action.
Among issues raised in the Masondo letter are the veterans’ database, without which benefits cannot be authorised, and, leading from it, healthcare and pension delays. The AVSA Ombud letter points out “since 2009, 13 acting DGs (Directors-General) with six-month tenures disrupted strategy, leaving over 40 posts vacant since 2012. [Defence and Military Veterans] Minister [Angie] Motshekga’s 2024 promise of a permanent DG remains unfulfilled, with no advertisement since mid-2023 despite parliamentary pressure”.
Commenting on a Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans (PCDMV) recommendation to put the DMV under PFMA (Public Finance Management Act) administration, Lintnaar sees it as “a potential for reform”.
In addition to assisting old soldiers with registration and benefit issues as well as taking on government bureaucracy, the AVSA team provides hands-on help where possible. One example is a veteran “found” in Durban recently.
“We followed up, establishing he was actually from Cape Town. Arrangements were made, he was relocated and is now with family,” Lintnaar told defenceWeb.
