The Department of Military Veterans

Finalisation of inclusion of qualifying military veterans into the database of the Department

14 October 2026

Over the last decade or more, the Department of Military Veterans has been building a data base of all military veterans who qualify for benefits from the government as outlined in the Military Veterans Act No 18: of 2011. This has been done through a system which required potential military veterans to apply for inclusion in the data base, after which the Department would then adjudicate their applications to ensure that they meet the criteria for inclusion in terms of the above Act. Inclusion in the data base has been the first step towards applying for benefits.

This system has faced a number of challenges over the years. Firstly, the numbers of applicants have overwhelmed the department, as they could not be matched by the capacity to adjudicate them speedily. This situation became worse in the last few years, due to diminishing capacities in the DMV, as posts could not be filled before approval of a new organisational structure.

Secondly, due to potential challenges with including non-deserving applicants in the data base, it became necessary to conduct a verification process to ensure that what is presented in the documentation is verifiable. As a result a process of physical verification through direct interviews became necessary. Therefore a committee led by Major-General (rtd) Mashoala was tasked to go around the provinces to interview applicants, and to confirm the legitimacy of their claims to be military veterans, mainly those who belonged to the former liberation armed forces, namely Azanian People’s Liberation Army (APLA), Azanian People’s Liberation Army (AZANLA), and Umkhonto Wesizwe (MK). This particular group was identified as needing such a process because of the challenges in confirming the claims made in their applications as records of their participation would only exist through Pseudo-names and other forms of identification.

The Department is aware that these processes and the delays related to them have led to concerns from the community of military veterans, as they have impacted on their possible access to the benefits they desperately need to access, such as pensions, heath care, housing, education for their children etc. Protest marches have taken place, letters have been sent to Parliament and to political parties, and many delegations have been meeting with the Department to call for solutions to this, and other related matters.

The recent court case in the Gauteng High Court, filed by the CMVO, is the latest among these, and led to the Gauteng High Court Judgement of 11 May 2026, which directed the Department to finalise adjudication of applications for inclusion in the data base within 90 days of receipt of such applications. At the same time, in its consideration of this judgement the Portfolio Committee then urged the Department to apply the same principle to all applications that constituted the backlog at the time, and to finalise the within 90 days. This statement addresses the decisions that have been taken not only to comply with the Gauteng High Court Judgement, and the resolution of the Portfolio Committee, but to allow the Department to finalise the data base of military veterans, thus ending the need for any application to be included in the data base once and for all. To fulfil the above objectives, the Department wishes to announce the following measures to all military veterans:

Finalisation of applications to be included in the data base. As has been indicated above, the Department, after urging from the Portfolio Committee, started working on how it would deal not only with new applications, but all applications for inclusion on the data base that were already in its possession. At the time there were 8000 pending applications.

All military veterans who hold a force number, which implies that there were once members of the force, whether before 1994 or in the SANDF, will no longer have to apply to be included in the data base. Similarly those who have already applied, but have force numbers, will be considered as having been approved for inclusion on the data base. This will come into effect from 1 November 2026
All military veterans from former liberation forces (APLA, AZANLA & MK), who were never integrated, and therefore do not have force numbers, but were approved for inclusion in the data base by the verification process led by Major General (rtd) Mashoala are therefore regarded as already being on the data base.
All other veterans that believe they have other means of identification as former members of the former SADF and the former TBVC states, other than force numbers, are being given an opportunity to state their case by writing to the Department individually, or by making representation through recognised and registered organisations of military veterans for consideration by the Department, before 15 January 2027.
All military veterans from former liberation forces referred to above, who did not apply before, or who could not present themselves for verification through the Mashoala Committee, are required to write to the Department to provide information on their membership of these forces, including all relevant information that will assist in the consideration of their cases by 15 January 2027. This refers specifically to those who received training outside the country, or sustained continuous and structured training inside the country, and formally joined the command structures of the forces referred to.
Their cases can be strengthened by supporting letters from other Military veterans who may have trained with them, or may have been their commanders, or by military veterans organisations that are registered with the Department of Military Veterans.
All military veterans who appeared before the Mashoala verification committee, and presented themselves as having been trained in the manner referred to above, but were not successful in convincing the committee as such, must also write to the Department to appeal their cases, providing their basis for such appeal, individually, with supporting letters from other military veterans who may have trained with them, may have been their commanders, or from recognised military veterans organisations they believe can substantiate their case, by 15 January 2027.
All other people who on the basis of some military training other than the one above, such as those that were trained for purposes of joining self- defence units and similar structures are urged to wait until all the above have been dealt with and finalised. Decisions related to what will happen regarding their applications and status will be announced before the end of January next year.
All the above steps are being taken to ensure finality of the matter of who should be on the data base of the Department of Military Veterans. After the 15 January 2027 no one will be expected to apply for inclusion in the data base, as all who qualify will have done so, and their representation will be processed and finalised either before or 90 days after the cut-off date of the 15 January 2027. The Department will then deal with those with other forms of military training, such as self-defence units, etc. as would have been decided on what would happened to them by the relevant government structures.

All correspondence related specifically to the matters referred to above must be sent to the following email address: Verification.appeal@dmv.gov.za

All other correspondence not connected to the above must still be directed to the normal email address of the DMV.
The Minister of Defence and Military Veterans is in the process of setting up a Committee that will process all the above matters relating to former member of the liberations forces, to make final recommendations on the status of those who would have responded to the above processes. Such a committee will consist of the highest commanders still surviving from these three liberation armed forces, and two other prominent individuals. The members of this committee, and the manner in which they will conduct their work, will be announced in due course.

APPLICATIONS FOR BENEFITS

As indicated above, inclusion in the data base is the first step that enables a person to apply for benefits in the Department of Military Veterans. Since the processes to finalise inclusion in the data base described above will then qualify many military veterans to apply for benefits, “all necessary steps have been taken to consider…” how to deal with such applications. The reality is that the current Departmental Budget for benefits cannot cope with the numbers of potential applicants. For example, almost 1 million potential applicants are likely to come from former members of the SADF alone. This excludes potential applicants from all the other forces. Additional numbers may also come from members coming out of the current SANDF.

One of the considerations that have been made is to ensure that the regulations for all benefits reflect a well-considered means test, as envisaged in the Military Veterans Act No 18: 2011, to ensure prioritisation of those that do not have the means to provide for themselves. Steps in this regard have been taken with regard to the pension benefits, while other regulations will be published for public comment in the coming days.

With regard to health specifically, as this was directly addressed in the Gauteng High Court Decision, the Department is in conversation with the Department of Health to find ways to designate certain strategic health institutions, and to establish a mechanism to prioritise military veterans in those institutions. Currently the Department is unable to refer applicants to the South African Military Health Services (SAMHS) as has been the practice, due to financial constraints, coupled with capacity challenges at SAMHS. This is an interim measure, as the Ministry explores ways to address the challenges faced by military health services in general. Therefore the Department is now poised to finalise approvals for health care on condition that such care is accessed at public health facilities.

Regarding other benefits, although those that are being approved to be on the data base of the DMV through what has been outlined above can now apply for benefits, a number of administrative matters are still being addressed. Key among these is the matter of budget constraints. In other words, while applications can be received by the DMV through normal processes. Finalisation or approval depends on the availability of resources. For example, currently the Department is sitting with more than 5000 applications for pensions, which cannot be finalised due to budget constraints. Therefore the Department will continue communicating with all applicants to inform them how far their applications for benefits are, and what may delay their finalisation.

CONCLUSION

The Department of Military Veterans acknowledges that the measures announced are removing just one of the major barriers to access to benefits by military veterans. However we regard this as a major step in finalising a matter that has taken more than a decade to reach finality. This constitutes one of the steps the Department is taking to improve service delivery to deserving military veterans. The Department will continue to advocate for more resources to meet the demands of military veterans, and we are confident that the Treasury supports the Department in this regard, and will make resources available whenever the budget process allows.

At the same time, the Department is working on digitising its processes to make it easier for military veterans to transact with the Department online. We are also working with other institutions, such as NSFAS, Setas, Higher Education Institutions, and TVET Colleges, to streamline offerings and support for Skills Training and Education for Military Veterans. The Department, together with the Department of Housing and Human Settlements, as well as the Department of Land Affairs and Rural Development, are working to develop a model for faster delivery of housing for military veterans.

The Government is aware of the plight of military veterans, and is doing everything possible to improve services to this community. The Department will continue to engage all stakeholders, such as SANMVA, recognised Military Veterans Associations, and other community structures, to forge partnerships in ensuring that military veterans are treated with the dignity they deserve.

ENDS