Question NW3842 to the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans
27 November 2017 - NW3842
Cassim, Mr Y to ask the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans
(1)(a) What criteria were used to rescue the homes of 104 military veterans from repossession in the 2016-17 financial year, (b) what are the terms and conditions of acquiring the benefit, (c) what costs were incurred to save the houses and (d) from which military formation was each military veteran whose home was rescued from repossession; (2) whether the military veterans housing policy and regulations have been (a) amended, (b) finalised and (c) approved for implementation; if not, what is the status of the policy and regulations?
Reply:
1. (a) The 104 military veterans who received assistance with the settlement of their mortgage loans, did so by completing the prescribed application form and complying with the qualifying criteria as prescribed in the Military Veterans Benefits Regulations of 2014. The criteria is as follows:
- The applicant must be listed in the database of the department of Military Veterans,
- Must not be employed and receives a pension from the state, or
- Is employed with annual income of less than R125000.00,
- His or her spouse has not previously received a house or other housing benefits from the state,
- Has a mortgage loan that is registered in his or her name at a financial institution, and
- The total sum of the balance of the mortgage loan is equal to or less than the housing benefit.
(b) Military Veterans who are provided with assistance in the settlement of their balance outstanding on their mortgage loan with the financial institution, are subject to the following terms and conditions:
(i) Forfeit their housing benefits which they otherwise would have qualified for.
(ii) The assistance is provided as once off service where the outstanding amount is less than R188 000.00 on bond.
(c) R12, 163,465.20
(d) The Military Veterans who were provided with assistance towards the settlements of their mortgage loans, were from the following military formations.
|
Military Formation |
Total number of beneficiaries |
|
APLA |
19 |
|
AZANLA |
3 |
|
BDF |
4 |
|
CDF |
1 |
|
MK |
38 |
|
SADF |
27 |
|
SANDF |
11 |
|
TDF |
1 |
2. (a) (b) and (c) The department has initiated an open and transparent consultation process with key stakeholders to gain as much feedback as possible to ensure that the policy on housing adequately addresses the policy objectives of the Act as well as the aspirations of the beneficiaries.
The outcomes of these consultations with guide the way forward.
As regard to the Regulations, these were approved in 2014 and are being implemented in the provisioning of benefits and services to Military Veterans.