APLA (MILITARY) VETERANS ASSOCIATION

SUBMISSION TO THE PARLIAMENT JOINT STANDING COMMITTEE ON DEFENCE 10-11 MAY 2007

Introduction

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The APLA (Military) Veterans Association (AMV A) has the honour to make this submission to the Parliament Joint Standing Committee on Defence. According to the directive received, the submission is supposed to be on the improvement and well-being of military veterans with respect to training, projects, ftmd raising, administration, establishment of national and

provincial structures, pension benefits, health, etc." .

AMV A is pleased to submit that since the time of the integration process we have received tremendous support from the Standing Committee on Defence. We hope this support will continue as we face the new challenges of attending to the plight of our members who have over time been graduating from being former combatants to being military veterans. To be a military veteran of the liberation struggle is noble, however this nobility means nothing if it is not accompanied by due recognition and support. It is in this spirit that we applaud the efforts of Government to render support to military veterans especially those of the liberation struggle.

Structures

Weare happy to submit that during the period 06 - 07 December 2006, AMY A held a successful national congress in which a legitimate national leadership was elected. This was despite a number of difficulties revolving around lack of support from the relevant government departments. The holding of this congress has laid a foundation for the establishment of legitimate Provincial and Regional structures capable of attending to the challenges facing the Association and its members. Much has been achieved in this regard as stability within the Association now prevails, with all the provinces focussing on rebuilding and revitalising their structures, processes and programmes. It is envisaged to have legititimate and effecient structures in all the provinces at the latest by the end of September 2007.

The legacy of disorganisation and lack of direction however still poses a major challenge to the new AMY A leadership. This is further compounded by similar disorganisation and lack of direction on the part of some national veterans and government structures that have been tasked with providing a service to the veterans in the quest to bring about improvement in the socio-economic conditions of military veterans. This is particularly true with regard to the Advisory Board, the Steering Committee and SASSETA, whose ineffectiveness and at times ineptitude have actually worked against progress in that:

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a. The Advisory Board has not been functioning for over a year now and there is still

no sign that it will ever function. This has created a void at national level to strategically attend to matters pertaining to military veterans. It is not surprising therefore that up to date, the national military veterans structures still remain in shambles.

b. The Steering Committee, whose main task is to drive and direct the programmes

and projects for military veterans, has for a very long time been ineffective as. it was over the years grossly and with impunity undermined by SASSETA Over time, SASSETA's mandate has become so dubious to an extent that SASSETA actually through a dubious company called Working Solutions, had usurped the powers and responsibilities of the Steering Committee. We hope the measures that are currently being put in .place in the Steering Committee will as a matter of urgency help address thi~ problem. We also wish to commend Major General Solly Mollo for his efforts to improve the situation. .

c. The Service Core on its part, has so far not actually delivered much despite its long years of existance. We in AMY A have even lost track of what the Service Core is supposed to be doing and what its purpose actually is.

Pensions

Weare grateful that government anp the respective departments have gone to great lengths in establishing some mechanisms through which the socio-economic well-being of military veterans can be improved, especially with regard to the pension schemes that have been put in place. The NSF and Special Pension schemes have contributed enormously in improving the lives of qualifying veterans. A lot however still needs to be done in consolidating these gains and ensuring that military veterans are catered for in an all inclusive manner rather than the current selective system. Today we still have those former combatants who because of their ages (below 35yrs), are discriminated against when it comes to pension and other benefits. These former combatants, also still have the challenge of being recognised as legitimate veterans and are instead only referred to as the under 35s and not enjoying any of the benefits relating to pensions and other benefits prescn"bed by the Veterans Act. The issue of age for former combatants of the liberation struggle seriously needs to be reviewed as it has contributed enormously to some of the problems the younger veterans have today.

Whilst the establishment of the various pension schemes is applauded, a review of the details of these schemes may be necessary to detennine their impact, especially when it comes to the special pension. A few areas of concern in this regard have been noted namely:

a. The dependents of the recepients of special pension lose out once the recepient of

special pension dies. This in the end tend to compound the probelms of the dependants as although they will initially get a lumpsome amount, the subsequent monthly payouts will be reduced by 50%, thereby lowering the baseline for their survival.

b. The widows and dependants of the combatants that passed away during the

liberation struggle and or prior to 2006 are not fully catered for in the special pension scheme. Most widows and or dependants only received a once-off lumpsome amount to the tune of about sixty thousand rand and this in all honesty has not helped much.

c. The special pension pay-out amounts that are received by some of the veterans really deserve to be reviewed. For a person who has spent years in the stiuggle without any opportunity to go to school and with no prospect of getting gainful employment io rely on the special pension amount of between RI 500.00 and R2 500.00 is really difficult. The special pension amounts however would really notbe an issue were economic and fund raising projects for military veterans in place. .

Fundraisin2 and Economic Proiects

The organisational atrophy that has bedevilled the Association over the years has impacted negatively on the capacity of the Association to initiate and venture into economic activity.

Opportunities for economic projects and fundraising activities have come and gone without the Association taking advantage thereof. This has unfortunately resulted in a pathetic situation in which the Association fmds itself where it cannot boast of a single successful economic project or fundraising activity. For this, AMY A takes full responsibility and cannot apportion blame to anyone but to itself.

The new AMY A leadership is however happy to announce that the Association has now embarked on a swingeing agenda to engage in economic and fundraising activities. The Association's constitution has also been ammended to empower the Association's leadership structures with the constitutional framework within which they could engage in these economic activities. Plans are also afoot to put appropriate structures in place with competent personnel employed to- drive the economic and fundraising projects of the Association. Some initiatives have also been taken by individual members of the Association to fonn co-operatives and register companies in an effort to engage in economic activities.

Whilst there are some projects such as the Vuselela project that are currently in place and playing a very important role in the lives of the veterans involved, the management and direction of these projects however leaves much to be desired The veterans are relegated to the background and are only allowed to function within the parameters that have been carved out for them. An improvement in this regard is necessary and the key lies in allowing the veterans to be in the forefront when it comes to the direction and management of these projects.

At this juncture, we shall be failing in our duty if we do not recognise and congratulate our colleagues in the MK Military Veterans Associan for the lead they have taken in establishing some of the economic projects from which some of our members have been able to benefit. We believe we shall be able to take a leaf from the experiences of MK in mapping our strategegies going forward. We however also cannot ignore the fact that the MK Military Veterans Association is by virtue of its political ties with the ruling party, in a position to access resources better than any other Association. In this regard, it will be important for our colleagues in MKMV A to recognise this point and play their rightful role in creating

opportunities for tbeother veterans Associations._ ."

Trainin2: and Skills Development

Economic projects are ~upposed to be driven by the individual members of the various veterans Associations. The role of the respective Associations is to create conditions in which their individual members can successfully engage in these economic activities. The.foundation for the individual members to engage in these economic activities however is the training and skills sets they should be empowered with. It however saddens us to report that some of the government structures, notably SASSETA and the Defence Steering Committee have in this regard failed the veterans.

As alluded to earlier, the deliberate undermining of the Steering Committee by SASSETA has led to gross incompetence and ineptitude on the part of those who are mandated to drive the training and skills development pro"grammes of the veterans. We still up to this date, cannot understand why SASSET A was allowed to undermine the Steering Committee and call the shots on matters pertaining to military veterans. We also fail to understand why SASSET A also deligated its authority and responsibility to a service provider in the name of Working Solutions to be the main role player on matters concerning the training of military veterans. Monies have been spent in the name of training military veterans and yet all this has been at the expense of military veterans. Nothing tangible can be put on the table as achievements in as far as the training of military veterans is concerned. SASSET A has over the years, come up with training programmes whose fundamental aim is not to empower the veterans but to satisfy other motives driven by this dubious company called Working Solutions. The tender processes and the service providers subsequently selected to train the veterans are so dubious that we are left with no option but to request that the veterans should be allowed to participate in these processes and playa meaningful role in shaping their own future. Most of the courses that have over the years been provided have not served any purpose at all except to undernrine the veterans and also to justify expenditure. For instance courses in painting and baking have been

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prescribed by SASSETA and pushed down the throats of the veterans. The end result is that the veterans have not been completing the courses because down the line, they realise that these courses are just a waste of time.

We really also do not understand why matters pertaining to the interests of the veterans are being driven by people other than the veterans themselves. The veterans' structures and members concerned are never consulted on the type of training courses that would benefit the veterans. The staus quo is that SASSET A has abrogated to themselves the power and authority to decide what the veterans will be trained or not trained on. It is therefore not surprising to note that the entire training project has been a dismisal failure with the use of funds bordering more on misappropriation than anything else. An investigation on this matter is highly recommended.

Health

More and more veterans continue to die as a result of the inability to access suitable medical

facilities. The process to address this matter is underway however a number of issues militate against bringing about finality to the matter. The audit process cmrently underway is taking a bit too long without any end in sight The various veterans Associations have themselves also

not been helpful as they caused serious delays by failing to submit relevant documentation and figures about their members who are entitled to benefit .from this excercise.We hope the process will be accelerated so that the members whose lives are in danger can. urgently get medical attention. A lot of talk is made about making militrary medical facilities accessible to military veterans but little progress is noticedable in this regard.

Conclusion

We believe that our Association has a duty to take the responsiblity upon itself to ensure that the structures and administration of the institution are functional and efficient to meet the challenges faced by the AMV A veterans. The Association must learn to carry the can and decist .from over reliance on government institutions. The government institutions we believe, are only there to support the efforts of the Association and also help create suitable conditions by ensuring accessibility to available resources.

It is unfortunate however that the Association has over the years not played its part and instead preferred to concern itself with infighting and opportunism. This is however the thing of the past as the Association has been able to put a legitimate leadership in place. What the Association would therefore appeal for in its quest to do the right thing is a reorganisation of some of the structures such as SASSET A to make them relevant to the needs of the veterans and also allow the veterans to be on the driving seat on matters that affect them. The key to the improvement on the lives of the veterans is the provision of skills to enable the veterans to either access opportuni~es for gainful employment or stand on their own and establish projects and business ventures.

Institutions such as the Advisory Board should also be revitalised as a matter of .urgency to help the veterans with strategic issues of common interest and future benefit. Giving the veterans especially those from the liberation armies due recognition and support has also been lacking. What we see most of the veterans go through, living in abject poverty and being subjects of pitty does not befit the sacrifices that were made by these veterans.

Signed: M.R. Fihla

Chairman: Apia Military Veterans Association