Military Veterans mess — committee wants ‘dysfunctional department' placed under administration
The parliamentary defence and military veterans committee will ask President Cyril Ramaphosa and Defence Minister Angie Motshekga to place the department under administration for alleged incompetence and leadership problems.
The parliamentary defence and military veterans committee plans to ask President Cyril Ramaphosa and Defence Minister Angie Motshekga to place the Department of Military Veterans (DMV) under administration for incompetence and lack of leadership.
This follows a committee meeting on Wednesday, 14 May, when MPs highlighted the protracted extension of the acting director-general's contract, several key vacancies and the department's broken organogram.
It was ultimately committee chairperson Dakota Legoete who told MPs that the committee would write to Ramaphosa, Motshegka and the National Assembly leadership 'so that it's known that we are placing this department under administration for incompetence and insubordination'.
Committee members did not explain how placing the department under administration would work.
Motshekga's spokesperson Onnica Kwakwa said: 'The Minister is not aware of the calls for the DMV to be put under administration as she was not at the meeting today.' He said Motshekga was on government business, attending the UN Peacekeeping Ministerial meeting in Berlin.
'The minister is on record as acknowledging the difficulties faced by the DMV. These were tabled both in the portfolio committee on defence and military veterans, as well as Scopa. There are a number of interventions in place to attend to the situation, including filling … vacant posts at senior management level and tightening internal controls to deal with improving audit and other challenges … that also include ensuring military veterans access their benefits seamlessly.'
At Wednesday's meeting, a troubling picture of key vacancies emerged. The department lacks a deputy director, director of internal audit and director of legal services, among other positions. MPs also suggested the Department of Public Service and Administration should step in to fix the department's organogram.
This isn't the first time issues at the DMV have been raised. In February, Motshegka told parliamentarians that when she took over the department in mid-2024, she found a 'wrecked ship'.
Motshekga told Parliament: 'For many years, it has been operating under a very poor structure, an incapacitated department… We have a situation where the entire senior management is absent… Then we have the … entire staff which sometimes is not fit for purpose.'
She also said there had been political interference when it came to implementing consequence management.
Military Veterans is one of the few government departments that received less than R1-billion during the 2024 budget period.
During the meeting, MP Carl Niehaus (Economic Freedom Fighters) first raised the issue of placing the department under administration.
Niehaus called for acting director-general Nontobeko Mafu to be immediately suspended after reports of irregularities. She has been acting in the role for a year, beyond the legally allowed six months.
Niehaus claimed to have sent a 16-page document to Deputy Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Richard Mkhungo, which laid out several issues involving Mafu. He said he would send the document to fellow MPs.
Niehaus said, 'This department is hanging, but the problem is it is hanging all the military veterans who do not deserve to be treated like this.'
Daily Maverick has reported extensively on the plight of military veterans.
Niehaus said placing the department under administration was the only way 'we're going to see this mess that has been presented to us again today being corrected'.
Mkhungo told the committee that the director-general position had been advertised, but the vacancy had not yet been filled, although a shortlist of candidates had been established. Mafu would act in the role until a permanent director-general was appointed.
Chris Hattingh (Democratic Alliance) questioned whether the closing date for applications was 20 December 2024, as about 144 days had since passed.
'If this was a company, the board would have fired the executive,' he said.
Windy Plaatjies (African National Congress) said the DMV needed to look outside for an appointment and suggested asking for a secondment from another department to find someone who could fix the mess.
Deputy Minister Bantu Holomisa (the portfolio has two deputy ministers) suggested taking up the issue with Deputy President Paul Mashatile, who chairs the Cabinet committee on justice, crime prevention and security. DM
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