Articles related to the Pension

Lieutenant Colonel (ret) Godfrey Giles, prominent throughout the South African military veterans community, has passed away at the age of 74 after a battle with cancer.

Defence and Military Veterans Minister Angie Motshekga has it just short of 20 000 South African military veterans have “access” to healthcare.

Further evidence of the necessity for a properly compiled and managed military veterans’ database comes from the Gauteng Department of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation (SACR).

Armscor’s dip into military veteran welfare this week saw the defence and security acquisition and project management company host its inaugural supplier information day for veteran soldiers.

Military veterans advocacy group Amalgamated Veterans of South Africa (AVSA) has raised its concerns over the lack of clarity with regard to South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) deductions from military veterans’ pensions, which is causing confusion for former soldiers.

The possibility of the Department of Military Veterans (DMV) being placed under administration has been deferred to the end of August – something the Amalgamated Veterans of South Africa (AVSA) believes will result in dire implications for veterans.

With some leeway granted from a Parliamentary oversight committee that it be placed under administration, it appears to be “ops normal” at the beleaguered Department of Military Veterans (DMV) for now.

The Department of Military Veterans (DMV) blames “budgetary constraints” and regulations needing review for non-payment of what it calls the “disbursement of military veterans’ pension”.

The Amalgamated Veterans of South Africa (AVSA) says 87 000 military veterans are still waiting for their benefits, with 20 000 dying in the process despite being registered on the military veterans’ database.

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.

A recommendation that the Department of Military Veterans (DMV) be placed under administration is seen as positive but may not necessarily ensure speedy delivery of services, the newest addition to the body of South African representative veteran organisations maintains.

Continuous under- and non-performance at the Department of Military Veterans (DMV), repeatedly raised by veteran soldiers and their representative organisations as well as publicly elected representatives and even the responsible Cabinet Minister, seem at long last to have found a sympathetic ear in the form of the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans (PCDMV).

The South African government department tasked with the well-being of the country’s military veterans acknowledged, in reply to a Parliamentary question, “it sometimes takes longer to register on the database” when asked why delays of up to a year are reported.

The South African military veterans database currently has over 87 000 names on it from 10 organisations representing national defence and former liberation forces with an admission by the Department of Military Veterans (DMV) that database applications “change daily” as members come forward

Scammers, not content with fake South African National Defence Force (SANDF) recruitment efforts, continue to use false military tender documents to lure in unsuspecting victims.

Two hundred and ten South African military veterans have graduated from a Rheinmetall Denel Munition (RDM) supported skills development programme as they journey towards self-sufficiency.

What has, hasn’t and is being done for South Africa’s military veterans is of concern to a number of Parliamentarians – across the political spectrum – evidenced again by two more old soldier questions to Defence and Military Veterans Minister, Angie Motshekga.

The perennial under-performance of the Department of Military Veterans (DMV) was again highlighted in the reply to a Parliamentary question, this one regarding housing for old soldiers.

The military veteran component of Minister Angie Motshekga’s portfolio and specifically its lack of leadership is now on record in an effort to spur action at an under-performing Department of Military Veterans (DMV).

The Deputy Director of the Warsaw Rising Museum in Poland, Dr Pawel Ukielski, recently opened a new permanent exhibit at the Ditsong National Museum of Military History in Johannesburg following the 80th anniversary memorial service of the 1944 rising.

It appears the official Parliamentary opposition – the Umkhonto we Sizwe (MP) Party – is serious about the plight of South Africa’s military veterans with three of its public representatives having questions in this regard answered in Parliament’s first working week.

Rheinmetall Denel Munition (RDM) is a company in the Defence Sector. It manages its BBBEE (Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment) scorecard within the guidelines of the Defence Charter. RDM acknowledges the important role played by Military Veterans in the liberation of South Africa.

The perennially under-performing Department of Military Veterans (DMV) has another acting Director-General at the helm – the fourth interim appointment since 2017 – with the most recent permanent appointment suspended for over a year.

The Department of Military Veterans (DMV) seems to be failing on its subsidised public transport benefit for old soldiers.

The “first batch” of approved military veterans received their first monthly pension benefit on Wednesday (1 November), 11 months after the revised benefit for old soldiers was made public