Pretoria – The new military veterans’ umbrella body will restore the dignity of those who fought during the country’s liberation struggle.
“We have come a long way in the endeavour to restore honour to those who have answered the call to serve, and those who did not come back home during the difficult days of our country’s history.
“Many veterans are detached from main stream activities in many ways. We need to work hard to reach them, service them and give them hope. Therein lies the glory of mission of our Military Veterans’ Association, in conjunction with the Department of Military Veterans,” said the Deputy Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Thabang Makwetla.
In a statement released after the new umbrella body was recently launched, Makwetla said the department was looking forward to working closely with the grouping in creating a credible database for military veterans. This could only be done by speedily concluding the veterans’ verification process, to prevent fraudsters from infiltrating the database.
“The real work begins now. It is time for all of us to [roll up] our sleeves and put our hands on deck to work tirelessly to change the lives of our military veterans and their dependents for the better.
“Let us all work together to honour, restore dignity and empower military veterans for nation building,” Makwetla said.
About 600 delegates attended the launch of the body in Gauteng over the weekend. Ministry spokesperson Mbulelo Musi said they were satisfied that the new body was “representative of the overwhelming majority of military veterans”.
The following associations took part in the conference where the umbrella body was launched: Umkhonto We Sizwe Military Veterans’ Association (MKMVA); Azanian People’s Military Veterans (AplaMVA); Azanian People’s National Liberation Army Military Veterans’ Association, (AzanlaMVA); former TBVC states MVAs; the Council for Military Veterans Organisation (CMVO) and the South African Cape Corps (SACC) as observers.
Musi said the delegates acted in the true spirit of democratic practice and had a sense of commitment and dedication to the cause of military veterans.
Delegates finally reached consensus on the following critical resolutions:
- to adopt the new constitution that is aligned to the Military Veterans Act 18 of 2011, that will serve as a fundamental guide of the new umbrella association;
- to retain the name and logo of the South African National Military Veterans’ Association (SANMVA);
- and to elect the leadership of the new umbrella association in a fair and transparent manner.
In addition to the six national office bearers, 20 additional members - who will be part of the national executive committee - were also democratically elected. – SAnews.gov.za
