Chairperson, hon members, the functions of the Military Ombud are limited to the investigation of complaints concerning conditions of service within the SA National Defence Force, SANDF. This is a departure from international best practice, where similar institutions have wide mandates to investigate matters within their respective defence forces.
A legal opinion provided by the parliamentary legal service's office defines an Ombud as an office provided for by the Constitution or by action of the legislature or Parliament and headed by an independent high-level official who accounts to the legislature or Parliament, who receives complaints from aggrieved persons against government agencies, officials and employees, who acts on his own motion and has the power to investigate and recommend corrective actions and issue reports.
However, the Military Ombud, as provided for in the Military Ombud Bill, falls short of the criteria set above. Most important and worrying is that the Military Ombud does not account to Parliament. The Military Ombud may not initiate an investigation. The Minister may assign to the Ombud any other additional functions which are not inconsistent with the Act. The Military Ombud must report to the Minister on the activities of the office of the Military Ombud, as and when requested to do so by the Minister. This obviously raises questions about the Military Ombud's level of institutional independence.
However, one of the most challenging issues facing the SANDF is the ineffective grievance system. There is a large number of unresolved grievances, which causes enormous frustration among ordinary soldiers in the Defence Force. Therefore the establishment of a Military Ombud office will go some way towards improving the handling of complaints within the Defence Force. The Military Ombud will therefore, contribute to improving conditions of service in the SANDF. We support the Military Ombud Bill, but with the reservation that the level of institutional independence of the Military Ombud is not adequately addressed. [Applause.]