Pietermaritzburg-based MK war veterans have rejected government’s offer that they be paid close on R5 000 a month as compensation for their role in the liberation struggle, saying they demand free housing and millions to be paid out per soldier.

Deputy president David Mabuza, who met the war vets in Durban on Tuesday, told the former soldiers that they will receive R4 962 a month as of December 1.

War vets demand R4m per person

The government’s offer is far below the R4m per person which the war veterans demanded as reparation.

Mkhonto weSizwe Military Veteran Association (MKMVA) Moses Mabhida region leader, Babsy Sithole, described the government’s offer as an ‘insult’.

“As things stand, we don’t even know how the government arrived at the conclusion that soldiers can live on R4 900. To make things worse, we were never consulted on the matter — they did it on their own.”

The war vets, who are also demanding free housing, have in recent months been staging protests around the country over what they believe to be the government’s failure to attend to their grievances.

Chaotic meeting with Defence and Military Veterans minister

Last year, some war veterans from the region travelled to Gauteng for a meeting with Cabinet ministers, including Defence and Military Veterans minister, Thandi Modise.

However, the meeting with the ministers turned chaotic, resulting in the war vets being arrested after the ministers complained that they were held hostage during the heated meeting

The criminal charges against those involved were subsequently withdrawn. There have been perceptions that some of the people claiming to be veterans have never been part of the former liberation struggle forces which waged war against the apartheid government.

Verification process

To ensure that only genuine war veterans received government benefits ranging from pension to medical aid, the government this year embarked on a verification exercise.

However, some veterans complained that the verification process has been flawed and it did not accommodate most of the former soldiers who were trained within the country’s borders in the late ’80s and early ’90s.

Mabuza, who is leading the interministerial task team established by President Cyril Ramaphosa to investigate the war vets’ grievances, said the government cannot turn its back on genuine ex-combatants as they sacrificed their lives for the country’s freedom.

“Today, we enjoy the fruits of democracy, which has been achieved [on the backs] of those of you who stepped forward to fight the draconian apartheid regime.

“In the process, many of you lost opportunities to go to school and to seek gainful employment, and as a result, were left lagging behind in every aspect of life. You didn’t have an opportunity to start families. You were not paid a salary and as a result, didn’t have an opportunity to join medical aid schemes and to build-up pension reserves.

“It’s for these reasons that our government shall remain committed to providing care to the heroes and heroines of our struggle for liberation.”