Military veterans in shambles, fails to table internal audit report

The symbolic operations of the Department of Defense and the Military Veterans were laid before Deaths as officers failed to produce an internal audit report on finances and operations in the military division. The Department is plagued by the incompetence of its high – paid officials, the lack of delivery of benefits such as housing for struggling seniors and the long – established credential verification process that takes too long to complete. Members of the Portfolio Committee on Defense on Wednesday met the Department for raising its issues on the audit report at the beginning of the meeting only. “There are reports and presentations…

The symbolic operations of the Department of Defense and the Military Veterans were laid before Deaths as officers failed to produce an internal audit report on finances and operations in the military division.

The Department is plagued by the incompetence of its high – paid officials, the lack of delivery of benefits such as housing for struggling seniors and the long – established credential verification process that takes too long to complete.

Members of the Portfolio Committee on Defense on Wednesday met the Department for raising its issues on the audit report at the beginning of the meeting only.

“Reports and presentations are to be submitted seven days before the meeting. You should have written a letter to this committee informing us that the report was not available.

“It is now standard practice for departments to say that they come to meetings without agreeing the appropriate documents, this will not be accepted,” said committee chairman Cyril Xaba.

Deputy Minister Tábang Makwetla stated that the internal audit committee did not meet the deadline due to “capacity issues”.

“It simply came to our notice then [internal audit report] an item on the agenda, as not from persons nominated to present the Department’s state of health.

“No one else can present this except the audit committee … we also designed that the audit committee has no executives to present to this committee. It is our plea that we be allowed to return in two months’ time to investigate those who have been engaged in that work in the Department. ”

The audit committee was appointed to brief the Deaths on its work, findings and problems facing the Department.

The department of military veterans is responsible for looking after the interests of thousands of freedom fighters from the armed structures of all political parties and other units.

Director General Irene Mpolweni told Deaths that action would be taken against those found guilty, promising to have the investigation report down by September.

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The report paints a grim picture of the department

The committee adopted a report following their oversight visit to defense offices in Tshwane last month.

In the report, committee members raised questions with officials about the ongoing delays in completing the verification process, the expiration of the building lease and the benefits of senators not reaching the intended recipients.

Some Deaths said veterans and families in urgent need of help with school fees and health care came after being turned away by department staff.

“Concerns have been raised about school fees, with one member of Parliament seeking help for a child with a disability. The Department acknowledged that the challenge was to process all applications manually, which is problematic and slow, ”the report read.

In addition, the lease for the office headquarters of military veterans expired in 2018, and no new premises were found or a new lease signed. The department rents on a month – to – month basis, labeled by the Deaths as a waste of public funds.

This, committee members said, raised questions about the position of provincial offices that are supposed to be closer to the reach of veterans.

“Access to the head office building and its staff has also been revived as military veterans continue to liaise with committee members regarding the disrespectful treatment of staff. It was reiterated that this was unacceptable, and that the Department needed to improve service delivery to the veterans. ”

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Officials facing disciplinary action

At least four senior officers are employed in the Department’s workflows, set up to align veteran businesses, in disciplinary hearings following their suspension last year.

Without providing their names, Mpolweni told the Deaths that the three men and women held positions as deputy director general of stakeholder empowerment and management, chief director of skills and empowerment of military veterans, chief financial officer and chief director of provincial office management.

They were charged with various charges including absence and abandonment of duties, breach of PFMA, wasted expenditure, failure to function properly, gross non-coordination, fraudulent misrepresentation, gross dishonesty and disregard for policies and processes.

The work streams were established under the presidential task team established in 2020 and led by the Vice President David Mabuza . They are tasked with directing the operation of the Department and cleaning up its database, which was found to contain people who were not supposed to be registered because they were not qualified.

‘Includes self-defense units’

The workflows on verifications began in Gauteng, followed by the Eastern Cape and are now in Limpopo, where they have been for three weeks.

According to the chairman of the panel, retired General Enoch Mashoala, they have received 5,000 applications, and to date at least 1,080 have been in front of his staff for interview and verification. About 900 of them were not praised, he said.

“The 900 members include self-defense units, because we recognize their sacrifices. They defended black towns and communities against political attacks from pressure dwellers, as you would know from that history, we are going to make a submission on their behalf.

“At least 259 of the 900 applicants were members of the self-defense units. Once we have finished we are going to consolidate all the numbers. ”

It is not yet known how long the verification process will take, with veterans waiting for housing, education and health benefits. There is still no budget to make for a new pension benefit that was due to start last month.

All former military wing organizations and associations come under the umbrella body known as the SA Military Veterans Association (SAMVA). According to Mpolweni, SAMVA, which is supported by the department, will be holding a conference soon. However, the unionist efforts of MK Council and its uMkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans’ Association (MKMVA) counterparts continue to fail as the latter refuses to dismantle their structures.

MKMVA, a member of SAMVA, is adamant that it will never stick to the results of the unity conference of former uMkhonto weSizwe members held in the Eastern Cape last month.

Spokesman Carl Niehaus, failed military verification credentialssaid his organization met with lawyers to ban the parent company – the ANC – and the Department.

“We also wanted that conference to succeed and that did not happen, MKMVA members walked out. The statements made by that conference are unanimous. We want to announce the results. ”

He described the Department as “administrative mischief”, adding that verifications should be carried out only by their own former commanders.

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