DA challenges ANC's pension funding claims

An ANC MP has declared that funding is in place to pay deserving military veterans their pensions, despite the Department of Military Veterans admitting that it cannot pay 1,889 veterans whose applications have already been approved.

The extraordinary contradiction erupted during Wednesday's meeting of the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans, where ANC MP Tshilidzi Munyai welcomed the department's pension report and assured the committee that veterans would receive their benefits.

"I think we, as a portfolio committee, are united in saying that all deserving military veterans must receive their benefits. This presentation is a sign and evidence that deserving military veterans are going to receive their benefits. The funding has also been put in place. The overall budget being considered is approximately R600 million, which, in the final analysis, we understand will cover the department's overall needs, including those of military veterans."

But DA MP Chris Hattingh challenged Munyai's interpretation, accusing him of misleading Parliament and creating false expectations among veterans.

"I don't know whether we've all listened to the same presentation and actually understood it. What we have in front of us, Chair, is a situation where military veterans are receiving a pension, yet in paying that pension there's a shortfall of R92 million.

"It's still not clear whether the proposed R92 million was approved by Treasury. So anybody who says that every deserving military veteran will now receive a pension does not understand it, and is in fact misleading the House, as well as creating expectations among thousands of military veterans who simply will not receive their military pension in the future," he said.

The department's own figures expose the gap between the assurances given by Munyai and the financial reality facing veterans.

The approximately R600 million figure is the department's estimated annual pension requirement, not money confirmed as available to meet its obligations.

The department's chief financial officer, Sibongiseni Ndlovu told MPs that 1,889 veterans whose pension applications had already been approved remain unpaid, with an accumulated liability of approximately R271 million.

A further 7,624 applications have yet to be finalised.

Meanwhile, the department faces a R92 million shortfall to maintain payments to existing pension beneficiaries until the end of the 2026/27 financial year.

Although National Treasury has supported an application for additional funding, the department has not confirmed that the money has been approved by Parliament or made available.

Hattingh demanded answers from the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, including a clear account of how the department intends to settle the outstanding R271 million and fund pensions in the coming financial years.

"The minister is not here to confirm. I don't know whether anybody is here to confirm whether this committee will receive that report in four days' time, on the 15th. I am not very positive that we will receive it," he said.

He also insisted that the Minister report to Parliament by 15 November, as required by the committee's adopted recommendations, on the status of the outstanding applications and the funding arrangements.