Date: 21/09/2005
Source: Ministry of Defence
Title: George: Mpumalanga Military Veterans Imbizo


  Opening remarks by the Deputy Minister of Defence, Hon Mluleki George, meeting with Mpumalanga Military Veterans, Nelspruit, Mpumalanga

Programme Director
Members of the Mpumalanga Military Veterans
Members of the Advisory Board of Military Veterans
Senior Officers of the SANDF
Members of the Media present here Ladies and Gentlemen

Introductory Remarks

First and foremost I want to thank the Mpumalanga Military Veterans present here this morning for taking the time and trouble to meet with us at this sixth Department of Defence Military Veterans Imbizo for 2005.

I will introduce this Imbizo as briefly and as clearly as I can, indicate progress to date, and then open the way for an orderly discussion and interaction with you for better understanding of the issues at hand.

Today is about talking to each other and understanding what can and cannot be done for you as veterans of the armed struggle against apartheid. The key objective however is that we all leave here with an agreed agenda for further action including priorities and time frames.

Through this initiative we aim to consolidate an intervention programme to improve and sustain a better life for all registered veterans. Government will continue to work with other departments in addressing the needs of military veterans.

As the Programme Director has indicated, we have only four hours to conclude our business. The success or failure of our meeting will depend on time management and discipline.

The Government Imbizo Concept

Every year Government rolls out a number of Imbizo programmes across the country. This year the Minister of Defence and I have started on ‘Sectoral Izimbizo’ focusing on issues like the recruitment of the youth to rejuvenate the South African National Defence Force, and, the future and welfare of Military Veterans.

Having said that however, the Izimbizo have proved themselves as a vital platform to strengthen participatory democracy and enhance coordinated communication between veterans and various relevant spheres of government.

The freedom we have fought for has brought many opportunities. The challenge is to ensure that they can be accessed by all. Military Veterans are key stakeholders of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and through the facilitation of the Department of Defence our intention is to ensure that all of you have access and information on benefits due to you.

Izimbizo can serve as a platform for building a partnership of veterans and government in the fight against poverty, low skills and to improve services that veterans need.

The Road Show

The Izimbizo on military veterans is a ‘Road Show’ which started with an inaugural Imbizo in February in Khayelitsha, where I met the Military Veterans of the Western Cape. One of the key outcomes of that Imbizo was the confirmation of an agenda for the way forward for the rest of the programme across the country. East London was the venue for the second Imbizo on 7 March, the third Imbizo was held at Doornkop in Gauteng on 14 March, the fourth Imbizo I conducted was held in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, on 5 April 2005 and the fifth Imbizo was held in Bloemfontein.

My intention was that Durban would be the final Imbizo for 2005. However, at that juncture there were requests from other provinces for inclusion in the Military Veterans Izimbizo. I recognise that this is a national priority and therefore the Department of Defence will cover all provinces that have structures and a significant number of members.

From the outcomes of these Izimbizo we will further develop a concerted programme of action highlighting awareness, seeking clarity on concerns, consolidating the issue of registration and the database of veterans and improving general communication and flow of information.

In my capacity as Deputy Minister of Defence I have been charged with a political responsibility to ensure that the work on this issue covered to date, and, outstanding matters are taken forward with clear deliverables and transparent deadlines.

Having said this there are four key issues I want to raise. These four issues have to be sorted out or concluded immediately because without a solution or clear action here we will not be able to deal with any concern of the military veterans successfully.

Four Key Issues

First Issue:
The first issue is about the completion of the registration of Military Veterans through a recognised organisation on a centralised database.

This issue is not negotiable. If you are not registered you have no profile for assistance. I am aware of some of the problems to do with registration and databases. Today you will either confirm or deny them.

Second Issue:
The second challenge is a related issue, beyond registration and databases, to the general issue of communication and flow of information. Many of you for instance have no formal channels through which we can inform and communicate with you or receive feedback on your concerns.

I have already tasked our communications people to develop a plan and engage government communications as to how we do this. Many of the concerns of Military Veterans are issues that could be solved through proper communication and information campaigns within your structures and through government communication facilities and expertise.

Third Issue:
The third key issue relates to concerns and misinformation around the Military Veterans pensions issue, the NSF Pension specifically. To set the record straight with regard to the NSF Pensions: ‘NSF Pensions are for those Military Veterans who integrated into the SANDF or demobilized and joined other government departments’.

Fourth Issue:
The third issue is with regard to your expectations of today. I have in front of me a list of 14 concerns attributed to the Military Veterans:

Concerns of Military Veterans

After our first Imbizo in Khayelitsha fourteen key concerns were registered and adopted as the central issues affecting the welfare and future prospects of Military Veterans:

1. Special Pensions;
2. CPR – the genuine cases that do not appear on CPR for purposes of database;
3. Further education bursaries for those who have a number of courses;
4. Skills for employment & entrepreneurship; 5. Funding for small business;
6. Lack of housing;
7. Summons for those who did not apply for amnesty;
8. Amnesty for political prisoners;
9. Health provision, especially for those with HIV and AIDS;
10. Psychological services (counselling); 11. Support for dependents of ex-combatants who have passed away;
12. Benefits for soldiers who were dismissed after integration;
13. Integration for those who did not have a chance to integrate due to incarceration in prison;
14. The inclusion of the former SDU Members/Marshals among Military Veterans.

Role of Government Government in general and, the Department of Defence in particular, have placed the concerns of Military Veterans as an urgent priority.

The President of South Africa, President Thabo Mbeki, is the designated ‘Patron-in-Chief’ of all military veterans and the Minster of Defence has the responsibility to achieve the objectives of the Military Veterans Affairs Act No. 17 of 1999.

To progress this, the Ministry of Defence has appointed an Advisory Board on Military Veterans Affairs’, made up primarily of military veterans and veterans’ organisations, for the purpose of ensuring that our policies and decisions are aligned with the needs and requirements of veterans.

In addition, the Department of Defence has appointed a Director of Military Veterans Affairs to manage an office for Military Veterans affairs on behalf of the Ministry of Defence. It is however very important that we understand that although we play a broad facilitating role the Department of Defence is not directly responsible for dealing with all of the issues relating to Military Veterans affairs.

There is clearly a need for information and allocation of responsibilities with regard to the broad government requirement to support veterans. Our communication strategy will cater for this. A major concern from the recent Imbizo was that government does not put time frames to promises on delivery.

To address this we need to prioritise issues. They cannot all be equally important. Let us determine which are for immediate attention, short-term, medium-term and long-tern consideration.

Progress
One of my major concerns relates to the communication and information challenges I mentioned at the beginning of my speech. Judging from comments in the media and public participation in both television and radio programmes on issues relating to veterans it is quite evident that little is known about ongoing developments in this area:

* A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the Department of Defence and the Diplomacy, Intelligence, Defence and Trade Education Training Authority (DIDTETA) on the 30 June 2005 to ensure support for training and skilling of military veterans;

* As a direct result of the Imbizo programme, an additional 1 500 names have been put on the military veterans database. Clearly the message about the importance of registration is coming through. There are now 19 000 former non-statutory members on the database;
* There are currently 105 Military Veterans undergoing training at the Centre for Advanced training (CAT);
* In the Northern Cape jobs have been secured for 240 Military Veterans to do security & driver training in Kimberley; and, 750 job opportunities have been identified at the Kumba Resources and Sishen Mines where training will commence this year;
* In Port Elizabeth 26 jobs in the security industry and 36 in the construction industry have been secured;
* In Polokwane five metro police jobs in Tzaneen have been secured and 18 Traffic Warden jobs at Bushbuck Ridge have also been secured.

* In Cape Town, a life skill enablers programme is underway whereby 123 drivers will be trained for codes 8, 10 and 14 licenses.

All these positive developments are just a few of the outcomes numerous initiatives lined-up by Government to ensure that we deliver on our promises to the military veterans of this country. Way Forward

I have now covered the reasons, background for this Imbizo, and progress to date. As I indicated my three issues for immediate attention: (1) the fourteen general concerns of military veterans for adoption (2) to confirm that government will only deal with and assist military veterans who are registered on our database under a recognized structure, and (3) we will improve awareness and communication on military veterans issues through national campaigns and a concerted national communication strategy.

Before handing back to the Programme Director, I want to once again thank you for this opportunity and assure you that I am very aware of the frustrations of many of you with regard to progress.

I can assure you we will be vigilante about delivering on our commitments on time. Through these Izimbizo Government and military veterans can work together to build a South Africa that truly belongs to all who live in it!

From here the Department of Defence Military Veterans Izimbizo will take place in Polokwane on 03 October, Potchefstroom on 11 October and finally in Kimberley on 04 November.

I look forward to a meaningful, constructive debate this morning.

I thank you.

Issued by: Ministry of Defence
21 September 2005