Question NW139 to the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans

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15 March 2016 - NW139

Profile picture: Kruger, Mr HC

Kruger, Mr HC to ask the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans

(1)What are the exact powers, roles and responsibilities of the SA National Military Veterans Association (SANMVA), vis-à-vis the powers, roles and responsibilities of her department; (2) whether her department has aborted the special purpose vehicle to co-ordinate business opportunities for military veterans; if so, has SANMVA assumed this role; (3) (a) what are the detailed expenses incurred by SANMVA in this regard and (b) how much of the specified expenses were covered by her department; (4) does SANMVA (a) receive a budget allocation from her department and (b) manage its own budget; (5) did SANMVA comply with its mandate and submit its statutory annual report to her?

Reply:

(1) The South African National Military Veterans Association (SANMVA) has been established to function as an entity that will assist the Department to reach its goals in servicing military veterans. Its core function is to mobilise military veterans across all individual associations and to ensure that all military veterans are aware of all of the benefits that are provided by the Department of Military Veterans and other government Departments.

(2) The Department has not aborted the special purpose vehicle (SPV). At present, a process is underway to probe the best possible solution towards establishing an SPV that would function efffectively and make sure that it does provide the intended benefit to all military veterans. Explorations include probing whether or not the provision of funding to military veterans will be in the form of a grant or loan and what the criteria would be in each instance. The Minister of Defence and Military Veterans is in full support of an SPV and has recommended that the Department continues to establish the SPV to give effect to a process that will be of benefit to military veterans to the extent that they necome self sufficient and are able to become less relaint on funding from the Department.

SANMVA has not assumed the role of an SPV. On the contrary, the Department is beginning to benefit from interventions wherein SANMVA engages with the private sector to open up business and employment opportunities for military veterans. Such opportunities are fed back to the Department for implementation. One such engagement has resulted in the Department beginning to pilot the training of military veterans in the installations of Set Top Boxes in conjunction with Ellies, one of the companies that has been awarded a contract to implement the Government’s Digital Migration programme under the Department of Communications. The roles are more complimentary rather than SANMVA assuming a role of the Department.

(3

(a) To give effect to its functions, SANMVA requests assistance in the form of transport and accommodation, where required.

(b) The Department covers all requests when funds are available.

(4)

(a) The Department does make a budget allocation for SANMVA activities under the Chief Directorate: Provincial Offices and Stakeholder Management.

(b) No funds have been transferred to SANMVA to date for personal managemrent by SANMVA. The mechanism for this has not yet been instituted.

(5) SANMVA has submitted one annual report to the office of the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, to date, since the establishment of SANMVA under the new Military Veterans Act, No 18, of 2011.

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