The Department Of Military Veterans Has Collapsed: A Betrayal Of Those Who Fought For Freedom

The Auditor-General of South Africa’s high-level briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans on June 3, 2026 has exposed a department in free-fall. The Department of Military Veterans (DMV) is not merely struggling — it is in accelerating collapse. With only 63% implementation of prior audit action plans, zero progress in four critical high-risk areas, and regression in financial health, the evidence is damning. This is systemic breakdown with devastating consequences for military veterans who sacrificed for our democracy.

As EFF Member of Parliament on this Committee, I have observed with alarm the DMV’s failure to fulfil its mandate. The AGSA findings, corroborated by the Parliamentary Research Unit and the Department’s weak responses, reveal governance collapse, financial mismanagement, procurement scandals, and absent consequence management. The human cost falls on veterans — many MK and liberation fighters — denied pensions, healthcare, housing, and burial support under the Military Veterans Act of 2011.

Financial health has regressed amid severe pension payment pressures, with funds reprioritised and R2.5 million in irregular burial expenditure disclosed. Procurement lags, contracts extend month-to-month with illegal variations, and asset management is paralysed. Over a year has passed without investigating R5 million in major assets and R690,000 in minor assets. Disposal and Loss Control Committees remain ineffective due to delays.

The R82.6 million in Material Irregularities referred to the SIU expose profound betrayal. The Rama City scandal involved payments to ineligible beneficiaries — veterans who received no houses, whose homes were undamaged, or who remained in original dwellings. Approximately 7,000 tablets from a R53 million tender meant for upskilling veterans have sat unused for years. These failures represent stolen opportunities for those who fought for freedom.

The unused pothole machines further illustrate this betrayal. Procured for skills development at over R27 million (plus maintenance), they remain idle despite formal release by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for Departmental use as far back as October 2024. On October 1, 2024, the Acting Director-General inquired with the South African Police Service. Lieutenant Colonel H.J.M. Rousseau confirmed seven days later, following NPA conclusion of investigations, that the machines could be deployed. Yet June 2026 presentations suggested they are still unused. This is not delay — it is inexplicable inaction on assets cleared for veteran empowerment over 20 months ago.

Chronic leadership vacuum compounds the crisis. The Director-General post and ten senior management positions have been vacant for over 36 months. Personnel numbers expand while functions remain unfilled, and Compensation of Employees costs have ballooned. Internal audit and Risk Management structures are incomplete. Database unit irregularities persist under investigation. This vacuum enables the corruption now scrutinised by Hawks and SIU.

On May 11, 2026, Gauteng High Court Judge Kubushi delivered a severe indictment. Responding to Council of Military Veterans Organisations (CMVO SA) litigation, the Court ordered the DMV to register qualifying veterans on the national database and process healthcare benefits within 90 working days of application, plus reconstitute the Appeals Board. This was a last resort after years of failure, with veterans dying while waiting since 2014. The database — lacking integrity, plagued by duplication and verification failures — blocks all service delivery.

I am gravely concerned the DMV lacks capacity to meet this deadline. Critical vacancies, unreliable systems, ongoing probes, and month-to-month Acting Director-General leadership suggest structural incapacity. Failure risks contempt of court, more litigation, and further veteran suffering. The Portfolio Committee must demand detailed compliance plans with bi-weekly reporting.

My engagement spans years. In May and September 2025, I submitted detailed letters on the Nexus Forensic Report, implicating senior officials in R300 million irregularities. Responses were inadequate. It is encouraging that the NPA and Hawks have resuscitated cases. A key whistleblower, former Internal Audit Director, is under witness protection due to threats. Investigations target officials including Acting DG Nontobeko Mafu and Captain Nyongwana’s alleged conflicts. These validate ignored warnings.

The pattern is unmistakable: procurement without utilisation, payments without verification, appointments without accountability. Impunity must end. Database failure leaders, including verification committee heads, should face immediate removal pending investigation. Veterans cannot wait while officials evade responsibility and assets like pothole machines sit unused despite NPA clearance since October 2024.

I welcome Deputy Minister Bantu Holomisa’s independent defence task team initiative. This overdue step, which I supported, must probe audit findings, Nexus matters, whistleblower evidence, and scandals involving tablets, pothole machines, and housing. I will provide all documentation.

The Portfolio Committee must shift from receiving reports to directing outcomes. Demand a High Court compliance plan within seven days. Recommend full forensic investigation and SIU expansion into irregularities, database issues, assets, and procurement. Summon the Minister, National Treasury, and DPSA on structural changes, including possible Defence Department re-incorporation. Establish dedicated oversight, hold public hearings with CMVO SA and veterans, and enforce accelerated consequence management.

The DMV exists to honour those who secured our liberty. Instead, it dishonours them through incompetence and neglect. Pensions exhaust by quarter three. Housing fails. Healthcare remains inaccessible. Veterans die without entitlements. Families suffer. This is morally unacceptable in a nation built on their sacrifices.

Without urgent remedial steps, court non-compliance will deepen the crisis. We choose: decisive intervention or continued betrayal. The EFF demands radical accountability, clean governance, and ring-fenced benefits funding. Reports must end; action begins now.

Liberation veterans deserve better. Their struggle continues until the DMV is rescued and restored.

* Ambassador Carl Niehaus is an EFF member of parliament and EFF permanent representative to the Committee on Defence and Military Veterans and the Joint Standing Committee on Defence.

** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL.