Pretoria - The Liberation Struggle War Veterans of South Africa has initiated legal proceedings against government, demanding a lump sum amount of R4.2 million per member as compensation for their gallant fight, which brought down the apartheid government.
Additionally, the war veterans are also demanding R15 000 monthly pension payment for every member.
Speaking to broadcaster Newzroom Afrika, Mzukisi Ronyuza, member of the national secretariat of the Liberation Struggle War Veterans of SA, said class action would be filed against government.
“I think in 2020, we marched to the Union Buildings. We marched to the Union Buildings as veterans. The march was informed by the challenges that veterans are facing, starting from 1994 during the integration. A lot of our comrades were not well received in the integration process of South Africa,” said Ronyuza.
“Most of them were absorbed into the defence force, the conditions were not good, and they were not addressed until today. Most of them had to leave the defence force, to leave the conditions that were not addressed for a number of years.”
He said the majority of the struggle veterans “are poor, not taken care of, and poor even when still working in the defence force”.
Ronyuza said other parties, which played different roles during the armed conflict, had received lots of benefits. He said the veterans are deeply anxious because the current government, which is supposed to pay them, is gradually losing power.
“In 2020, when we decided to march, we said our conditions are not improving, and the black government is gradually losing power. We do not know what will happen to us. Along the way, we noticed that a lot of our leaders, a number of former commanders are getting richer and richer by the day while foot soldiers are getting poor,” he said.
According to Ronyuza, the figure of R4.2 million is a reduced amount.
“This figure, when we came to the R4.2 million … remember we have got lawyers, people with actuarial background and expertise who assisted us in counting, dealing with these figures,” he said.
“They assisted us to calculate this, and it amounted to way above this R4.2 million. We said our government does not have money, we understand that, we said can we come to the R4.2 (million) instead of what was counted, and said to be what is deserved by veterans.
“We said R4.2 million is nothing for a government that has people that are very rich, that have achieved, that are in the economic mainstream whilst the veterans are on the sidelines of the economy. So, this amount was not thumb-sucked. It was calculated by learned people who have expertise in that.”
Last year, the 2 500 members of the Liberation Struggle War Veterans announced that they are not backing down on their demand for the R4.2 million compensation.
The uncompromising stance was communicated in a statement after 53 of their members were acquitted for allegedly kidnapping Cabinet ministers during a heated meeting in Pretoria in October 2021.
The “kidnapped” ministers were Thandi Modise of Defence, her deputy Thabang Makwetla and Mondli Gungubele, minister in the Presidency.
The kidnapping incident happened when the veterans would not allow the three to leave after it was claimed that there was a consensus document that had a roadmap about the R4.2 million compensation and other issues. The three told the meeting that there was no such roadmap, angering the veterans who felt that they were being taken for a ride over the matter.
IOL