Hon Speaker, hon Ministers, hon members, guests in the gallery, the Military Ombud Bill was introduced to the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans in June 2011 by the department. This Bill seeks to establish the Office of the Military Ombud. The role of the Military Ombud is to receive and attend to complaints within and against the Defence Force, from current and former members of the Defence Force, regarding their conditions of service, as well as members of the public regarding the official conduct of a member of the Defence Force.
The role of the Military Ombud is to investigate and ensure that complaints are resolved in a fair, economical and expeditious manner. This office is meant to enhance the grievance processes that exist within the Defence Force and ensure that grievances can be addressed by an independent office. This Bill went through the public participation processes, with written and verbal submissions received from interested persons and nongovernmental organisations.
The committee subsequently deliberated on the Bill and presented it to the National Assembly. Subsequent to this, the National Council of Provinces made two amendments to the Bill relating to the appointment and removal of the Military Ombud from office. The Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans has acceded to the suggested amendments.
The first amendment is in relation to clause 5(1) and (5)(2) of the Bill. Previously, the Bill required that the President appoint the Military Ombud upon the recommendation of the National Assembly. Both the Select Committee on Security and Constitutional Development and the portfolio committee agreed that this would be an erroneous process. The President is the Commander-in-Chief and should have the powers to appoint the required personnel without administrative restrictions.
This is also in line with the appointment of the Public Protector, who is at the moment, in the absence of an Ombud, dealing with complaints against the Defence Force.
The second amendment is in relation to clause 5(9) of the Bill. This clause provided for the removal of the Ombud from office by the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans, through a resolution of the National Assembly. The current amendment indicates that the Ombud may only be removed by the President on grounds of misconduct, incapacity or incompetence. This amendment is a consequential amendment, seeing that the President appoints the Ombud. It therefore follows that he should also be the person to remove the Ombud from office.
The Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans, therefore, supports and agrees with the amendments suggested by the Select Committee on Security and Constitutional Development. Thank you, hon Speaker. [Applause.]
There was no debate.