Plight of ‘struggle veterans’ in spotlight
This comes after a group of marchers under the banner of the Liberation Struggle War Veterans, marched to the Union Buildings in November 2020 and presented a memorandum of grievances to the President.
A group of people who marched to the Union Buildings in November 2020, under the banner of “Liberation Struggle War Veterans” could see their demands finally met.
The presidency committed to finding solutions to issues of the veterans’ social relief of distress, educational assistance, the provisioning of decent housing, job opportunities and land.
Deputy President David Mabuza said the role that had been played by the military veterans remained deeply etched in the national memory and consciousness of South Africans.
“For it is they (the military veterans) that sacrificed everything about themselves to ensure South Africa and all our people are rescued from the relentless jaws of apartheid.”
Mabuza said to show their commitment, the government had called for the meeting to seek guidance to find sustainable ways for a feasible resolution to the grievances that have been raised in a submitted memorandum.
He said in 2020, the presidency became increasingly inundated with a number of complaints from the military veterans’ community over the failure of the department of military veterans to dispense adequate services to veterans.
Mabuza said as part of the government’s response, the president called for a high-level briefing on the plight of military veterans where he was briefed on the existing support package offered to them as well as areas where gaps had been identified.
A presidential task team appointed to look after the affairs of military veterans noted that many of the grievances raised would require the participation of different line-function ministries as well as different spheres of government.
“Through engagements, the government was able to conceptualise and constitute seven work streams that were focal to pursue.”
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