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The Democratic Alliance welcomes that the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Thandi Modise, has acceded to our request to appoint an Acting Director General in the Department of Military Veterans without delay.

This comes after the DA wrote a letter to the minister on the 19th of April 2023 in which I appealed to her to effect the appointment of the Acting Director General forthwith in order to prevent maladministration, mismanagement of funds and further delay the rolling out of pension benefits.

The absence of a Director General in the DMV has already led to a serious consequence, which is why the DMV failed to submit its Annual Performance Plan to Parliament on April 30, 2023. It is concerning that this department has been dysfunctional since 2011 and Military Veterans are still suffering the consequences of not getting their entitled benefits such as pension, housing, access to healthcare services etc.

The DA calls on the newly appointed Acting Director General, Vice-admiral (retired) Mosiwa Hlongwane, to lend the necessary support to Military Veterans and their dependents which include benefits and entitlement to help realise a dignified, unified, empowered, and self-sufficient community of military veterans.

The Democratic Alliance will continue to fight for the recognition and care of our Military Veterans.

Issued by Maliyakhe Shelembe MP - DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Defence and Military Veterans