Chairperson, we don't need a Defence Force to protect us against foreigners. But, at the same time, there are two very important aspects we must indeed understand. We need a capable Defence Force to make sure we play a role in peacekeeping efforts. When proper democracy is restored in the whole of Africa, it is of tremendous benefit to the country.
Secondly, the government relies on the security family as the upholders of the Constitution. The MF's leader, Mr A Rajbansi, was in the transitional executive council when he served on a subcommittee dealing with military veterans. Here I want to say that the MF is very disappointed with the South African government - you are not treating military veterans in the way World War I and World War II veterans were treated. They were given homes; they were given facilities, etc.
The MF wants especially the ANC to respect the undertakings given at the transitional executive council to the military veterans and to make sure that they are given decent pensions and not ordinary social pensions. In KwaZulu-Natal housing for military veterans has been promised, but not a single house has been built after 16 years. We want to suggest very strongly to the hon Minister of Defence and Military Veterans and the hon Minister of Social Development to give this the highest priority.
The MF is greatly concerned that the establishment and the migration of the development of military veterans be closely monitored with regard to its strategic plan, budget and objectives, and, importantly, that this is done within the envisaged timeframes.
We are also greatly concerned about the progress made in the long- overdue renovations - as we heard earlier - and in the repair and maintenance of defence infrastructure and facilities. We are also greatly concerned about the role of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and the transfer of delegations from the Department of Public Works to the Department of Defence and Military Veterans. We are extremely concerned as to whether a compliance officer has been appointed, as "Operation Clean Audit" is an important initiative. The worrying factor is that the Auditor- General's report found that insufficient guidance was provided to staff pertaining to the preparation of financial statements.
However, the MF, hon Minister, welcomes your call that yes, indeed, we must and we have to treat our military veterans with dignity. The MF will support the Budget Vote. [Applause.]