The Presidential Task Team on Military Veterans, chaired by Deputy President David Mabuza, has noted progress with regards to the overall support to military veterans.
The Deputy President in his capacity as the Chairperson of Task Team, over the weekend, visited the Limpopo province to interact with members of the Military Veterans Association.
This was with the aim of assessing progress achieved by government in addressing the challenges faced by military veterans.
The meeting took place at the Polokwane Rugby Stadium, Capricorn District in the Limpopo province.
Deputy President Mabuza was supported by the Acting Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, the Premier of the Limpopo Province, Stanley Mathabatha, Members of the Executive Council together with senior government officials.
The meeting received progress on the work which is being done by the Task Team’s Technical Committee Work Streams and the Limpopo Provincial Government in addressing various challenges faced by military veterans.
The work streams focused on issues including:
• Legislative review
• Organizational redesign
• Socio economic support
• Database verification, cleansing and enhancement
• Heritage and memorialisation
• Pension and benefits
• Communication
In this regard, the Task Team noted progress with regards to the establishment of the Limpopo Provincial Government Inter-Ministerial Task Team tasked with the role to oversee the overall support to military veterans.
The Provincial IMC is constituted by the MECs for Treasury, Education, CoGTA, Health and Limpopo Economic Development, Environment and Tourism.
“The establishment of Limpopo Provincial IMC on Military Veterans is a step in the right direction towards ensuring that the challenges facing military veterans are addressed in a well-coordinated and integrated manner,” said Deputy President Mabuza.
With regards to services rendered to military veterans, the Task Team noted encouraging progress made by the provincial government in availing socio-economic opportunities to military veterans, including the completion of 122 units towards addressing their human settlement needs.
The Task Team further noted the extension of educational and skills development support to Military Veterans and their beneficiaries.
Deputy President Mabuza emphasised the active participation and the importance of unity amongst the Military Veterans Associations.
“Military Veterans must organise themselves and be united. It is only when they are united that they will be able to address pressing issues of interest. Military veterans should further participate in the processes towards amendment of the Military Veterans Act,” Deputy President Mabuza told the meeting.
The meeting agreed in principle that a Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Military Veterans, Limpopo Provincial Administration, Municipalities and other state entities, should be fast-tracked to ensure there is adequate institutionalisation of support to military veterans.
The Presidential Task Team on Military Veterans will continue to receive reports on progress made by the different work streams.
Furthermore, the Deputy President highlighted the importance of accelerating the process of verification, database cleansing and enhancement with the aim of ensuring that clear and comprehensive rules and policies, are applied to ensure that bona fide military veterans are registered on the database of the Department of Military Veterans.
Limpopo Premier Stanley Mathabatha further committed to extending support to Military Veterans.
“We wish to appreciate the work done by the Presidential Task Team in ensuring proper coordination of all efforts geared towards addressing the challenges of military veterans. Furthermore, we welcome the opportunity for open interaction between the Task Team and Military Veterans,” said Premier Mathabatha.