Hon Deputy Speaker, hon Ministers, hon Deputy Ministers, hon members and guests in the gallery ... mandikhahlele kuloo magorha namagorhakazi oMzantsi Afrika athi anikezela ngobomi bawo ngokulwela isizwe. Amanye kuwo aya elubhacweni eshiya ngasemva amakhaya nezihlobo, esiya kulwela le nkululeko siyixhamlayo namhlanje. Amanye kuwo abuya engamathambo enazo nezivubeko; amanye abuya amalungu omzimba engaphelelenga. Siyakhahlela kuloo maqhawe namaqhawekazi ngale nyanga yamakhosikazi. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[... let me praise those South African heroes and heroines who sacrificed their lives fighting for the nation. Some of them went into exile leaving behind their homes and relatives, fighting for the freedom that we benefit from today. Some of them returned in a skeletal state and scarred; some have lost limbs. We praise those heroes and heroines in this Women's Month.]
The Military Veterans Bill has many features in its attempt to bring about a more just and equitable dispensation for our military veterans. One of the features that was debated extensively in the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans is benefits. This Bill seeks to set out the benefits available to military veterans and their dependants. Assistance rendered varies according to the subjective circumstances of the veterans concerned. It should be noted that such benefits are provided subject to a needs assessment.
Clause 5 of the Military Veterans Bill outlines 11 benefits that should be awarded to military veterans. These benefits were internationally benchmarked and have also been costed with different options to determine relevance and affordability. The ANC welcomes the compensation for injuries to military veterans who sustained disabling injuries during military activities. Anyone who has been in contact with such members will know what they are going through, especially those who have been left with severe psychological and psychiatric scars. Hence we also appreciated the proposed counselling of and treatment for those who suffer from serious mental illness, post-traumatic stress disorder or related conditions.
The honouring and memorialising of fallen military veterans as well as burial support declare our sense of belonging, our sense of where we come from and our deep-seated belief that we have to pay our respects to those who led us so bravely and relentlessly to the democracy that we enjoy today.
Once more, this is an attempt to honour their sacrifices, to reintegrate them back into society and to restore their quality of life to the greatest extent possible. The Bill requires state departments to take legislative steps to ensure that the objects of this Bill are indeed realised.
This piece of legislation provides for the Minister to ensure that benefits are paid or provided to military veterans. This may be done through the department or by other state organs through service-level agreements with the Ministry, in consultation with the Finance Minister.
In conclusion, the benefits in clause 5 are testimony to the esteem in which we hold our military veterans. The cost of the benefits over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, is reasonable, affordable and justifiable; and we therefore implore all stakeholders to assist us in addressing the plight of our military veterans in a manner that is commensurate with their sacrifices. The ANC supports the Bill.