As the country commemorated Freedom Day, military veterans in Mbombela have raised concerns about the lack of progress in the payment of their pension. Most of the veterans are without any form of pension and remain unemployed.
Mpumalanga Premier Refiloe Mtsweni-Tsipane addressed a Freedom Day commemoration where she highlighted the achievements of her government.
Mpumalanga’s version of the Freedom Day celebration was held in Ackerville, a township in eMalahleni. Just like many townships in the province, the township is faced with challenges of unemployment, substance abuse among others.
Speaking at the local stadium, Mtsweni-Tsipane urged the residents to vote in next year’s elections to safeguard the gains made since the advent of democracy.
“It is important to remember where we come from, who we are and of cause forge a way forward in terms of moving to the future. We must sensitise our young so that they understand the importance of the gains and the freedom the war that was waged. We must make sure that we reap the fruit of the freedom we enjoyed,” says Mtsweni-Tsipane.
The premier promised the locals that plans are underway to create job opportunities especially for the youth. She says 90 000 job opportunities will be created soon.
Meanwhile, Military Veterans in Mbombela are claiming to have been forgotten by the government. They raised concerns about the lack of progress in the payment of pension. A veteran, Bongani Mamba says most of them are living in squalor.
“From 1994 until today, there are still a lot of military veterans who still don’t have houses, and above that you look at the question of medical (aid). The former statutory forces have medical (aid) including their beneficiaries, says Mamba.
Another veteran, Deborah Marakalala says they sacrificed a lot for the liberation of the country. She, however, says it looks like their sacrifices were in vain.
“At my age I am still at school, whereas people I started with long graduated. I still have to start afresh. It’s really painful. The sacrifice, and the compromise that we made for the country that our families, our children had to go through. With my two daughters when they got their first menstruation, I was not there to supervise them because I was in jail. These are some of the things people are not aware of, how our families got affected,” says Marakalala.
Mtsweni-Tsipane says the issues raised by the veterans are being attended to.
“The issues have been raised with government and they are concerted. Amongst the issues are the pensions. There was a data base, it has to be looked at and cleaned up by our defense military across all the provinces,” says Mtsweni-Tsipane.
