The metro played host to the Gauteng Provincial Steering Committee (GPSC)’s outreach programme for military veterans at the Germiston City Hall on Wednesday.
Among the departments present was the Department of Military Veterans (DMV).
“The military veterans department was established in 2010 and the Military Veterans Act was approved in 2011, which outlines the benefits military veterans may qualify for,” said David Rampedi, provisional co-ordinator for Gauteng’s Department of Military Veterans.
“As the DMV, we are here to make military veterans aware that we are in existence and we want to call upon all the military veterans to come forth and register so they can start enjoying their benefits.
“We are the legislative custodians of the military veterans and, by military veterans, I am referring to former liberation forces like MK, APLA and the former SADF, and they are included in the Act.
“The Act addresses the benefits that are to be accorded to military veterans such as military compensation, a health access benefit and education and burial support.
“In the health access benefits, the veterans and ex-combatants will be issued a card which will enable them to consult with military hospitals and other private doctors.”
Although most of the benefits will be enjoyed by most veterans and ex-combatants, Rampedi said the military compensation is not for all.
“The military compensation focuses on all the veterans who were injured during the struggle while the education support is for the veterans, their spouses and children,” he said.
“In order to claim these benefits, veterans first need to be registered to the National Database Department of the Military Veterans.
“A service certificate from their respective forces, a force number and a serving certificate from the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) are needed to validate each claim.
“We don’t only register those who were in exile, we have other people who were fighting in the underground units and although most of them didn’t have force numbers, we have a process that we use to verify their membership of such units.
“A verification process is where a panel will sit and speak to a person claiming to be a military veteran or ex-combatant but who lacks the required documents.
“We also encourage the families of late military veterans to come forward with the required documentation and claim on behalf of their beloved veterans.”
Rampedi also told the GCN that the department aims to better the lives of the military veterans and ex-combatants.
“The department aims to restore the dignity of the military veterans and improve their socio-economic conditions,” he said.
“We have veterans who are homeless and unemployed.”
Oratile Makgoba, deputy director of the Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG)’s Military Veterans Office was also present.
“What we are doing today is called household profiling of military veterans,” he said.
“We want to check if all the military veterans and ex-combatants, who are residing in Gauteng, are happy with the type of services we are rendering to them and whether they have access to those services.
“We need some kind of interaction with them, that is why we held this outreach programme and it is not only in Ekurhuleni but in all the regions of Gauteng.
“There is a plight here as the government wants to provide services but we have to quantify the number of people who we have to give services to.
“We are trying to establish the number of the beneficiaries per region; currently the database, from the department of military veterans, for Gauteng only stands at 5 390.”
Makgoba also said the programme is used to listen to the socio-economic challenges which are faced by the ex-combatants daily.
“We want to know how many have houses, how many are living in rented housing or bond houses or living in informal settlements,” he said.
“We also want to establish how many are unemployed, it is important to know because we have to assist them with job placements, as well.”
The National Peace Accord Trust (NPAT) provides post-traumatic therapy and psychotherapy to the military veterans.
“Military veterans are different kinds of victims who need a special kind of psychology, so Ecotherapy is used,” said the national psycho-social support programme’s manager, Bongi Ngobese.
“Ecotherapy is a form of psychology which is specifically designed for military veterans and our facilitators are trained in America as it is new to South Africa.
“One of the factors affecting military veterans is that their families look at them and ask what they have to show for their fighting. This and other things builds anger in most of the military veterans.
“Due to the lack of recognition, the military veterans feel that they were heroes back then and today they are nothing.
“This, together with the trauma they carry, results in substance abuse and them being suicidal.
“Ecotherapy is powerful as after it you find them (military veterans) saying they are able to smile and move away from the anger.”
“The department of military veterans is calling on all the military veterans and ex-combatants to come register in order to qualify for their benefits,” concluded Rampedi.
For more information residents can contact the call centre on 080 232 3244 or visit the Department of Military Veterans offices at 323 Festival Street, Hatfield in Pretoria.
