Military Vets Database Crisis: A Betrayal of Liberation Soldiers

Carl Niehaus

South Africa’s Military Veterans Act No. 18 of 2011 was a solemn pledge to honour those who sacrificed their lives for freedom, promising them dignity through benefits like housing, healthcare, education, and pensions.

At its core lies the Military Veterans Database, intended to identify and register those entitled to these hard-won rights. Yet, more than a decade later, this promise lies in tatters, broken by a verification process riddled with bias, bureaucratic failure, and factional malice. Overseen by the Database Verification, Cleansing and Enhancement (DVCE) under the Presidential Task Team on Military Veterans (PTT), the system has become a tool of exclusion, humiliating liberation soldiers and denying them their dues.

Despite mounting complaints, Deputy President Paul Mashatile, who chairs the PTT, and Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Angie Motshekga have failed to act, with Motshekga’s unfitness for office casting a shadow over the Department of Military Veterans. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) condemn this betrayal and demands urgent reform to restore justice for our liberation heroes.

A System Rigged Against Liberation Soldiers

The Military Veterans Database should serve as a beacon of fairness, ensuring that all veterans receive their rightful benefits. Instead, the DVCE’s verification process is a labyrinth of inconsistency and prejudice.

Veterans of the apartheid-era South African Defence Force (SADF), armed with formal records and defence force numbers, are seamlessly registered. In stark contrast, members of non-statutory forces—heroes of the People’s Liberation Army, uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), and the Azanian People’s Liberation Army (APLA)—face an arduous ordeal, forced to produce near-impossible proof of their clandestine service.

Liberation soldiers fought under conditions that defied record-keeping. Many MK and APLA members trained in camps across Angola, Tanzania, or Zambia, while others operated within South Africa’s townships as part of self-defence units (SDUs) or underground networks. These internal fighters, hailed by ANC President Oliver Tambo as the backbone of MK’s internal machinery, risked everything in covert operations.

Yet, the DVCE demands documentation they could never have—official records or testimony from commanders long deceased or scattered. This bias, compounded by ever-shifting criteria, locks countless veterans out of their entitlements.

The process is further tainted by ANC factionalism, with the DVCE becoming a battleground for political score-settling. Factions wield verification as a weapon to exclude rivals, undermining the very struggle these veterans fought for. Deputy President Mashatile and Minister Motshekga, tasked with oversight, have turned a blind eye to these abuses, allowing factional politics to flourish unchecked—a failure that underscores Motshekga’s inability to lead effectively.

The Indignity of Erasure

Under the chairpersonship of Retired Major General Mashoala, the DVCE has transformed verification into an exercise in humiliation. Legitimate MK veterans, particularly those who served in the internal machinery, face aggressive interrogations and outright rejection, their sacrifices dismissed with contempt. This is not mere bureaucracy—it is a deliberate affront to the liberation struggle.

I myself, a documented military veteran and member of the People’s Liberation Army, uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), have endured this injustice. My 1983 court records, where I was charged with so-called high treason, meticulously detail my membership in MK and the ANC, resulting in a 15-year sentence by the apartheid regime.

These records stand as irrefutable proof of my service, yet General Mashoala, driven by factional political motives, questioned my MK membership in a manner both aggressive and degrading. My ordeal reflects the plight of countless veterans whose contributions are being erased for political gain.

In recent weeks, this crisis reached a boiling point in the North West Province. General Mashoala’s DVCE meetings subjected genuine MK veterans—many from MK’s internal machinery and SDUs—to hostile interrogations and public humiliation, summarily rejecting their claims.

These rejections do not merely deny benefits like housing, healthcare, or education for their dependents; they negate the essence of their struggle. The inaction of Mashatile and Motshekga in the face of widespread outcry is a profound lapse in leadership.

The Devastating Toll of Exclusion

The human cost of this broken system is staggering. Excluded veterans are left without healthcare for ailments born of their struggle, without homes for their families, and without education for their children. This is a moral travesty, condemning those who fought for freedom to lives of destitution. The SDUs, who braved unimaginable dangers in townships to protect communities and shift the balance of power toward the 1994 elections, are particularly hard-hit. Their clandestine contributions, pivotal to our democracy, are ignored by the DVCE’s narrow criteria, leaving many excluded and forgotten.

A Demand for Justice

The EFF will not stand idly by while our liberation heroes are betrayed. The DVCE process, under the PTT, is fatally flawed—its biased criteria and factional corruption are an insult to the struggle. The paper-based system, prone to fraud and maladministration as seen in the North West Province, must be scrapped. General Mashoala’s leadership, tainted by political motives, is untenable; he must be removed as DVCE chairperson immediately.

We demand a transparent, digitized verification system rooted in inclusive criteria that honour the full spectrum of the liberation struggle. It must recognize non-statutory forces, including MK’s internal machinery and SDUs, accepting affidavits, community testimonies, and historical records as valid proof.

This process must be purged of ANC factionalism, ensuring no veteran is excluded for political gain. Deputy President Mashatile, as PTT head, must champion this reform, rectifying his administration’s failure to heed complaints. Minister Motshekga’s unfitness for office, evident in her oversight of this crisis, necessitates her immediate dismissal by President Ramaphosa.

A Nation’s Moral Reckoning

South Africa’s soul is on trial. A nation’s integrity is measured by how it honours those who fought for its freedom, and by this standard, we are failing. The Military Veterans Database crisis is a profound betrayal of our liberation soldiers, whose blood and sacrifice in camps, townships, and underground networks birthed our democracy.

As a documented military veteran and member of the People’s Liberation Army, uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), I have witnessed this betrayal firsthand, my service questioned by General Mashoala’s factional agenda despite court records affirming my role. This injustice is not mine alone—it is shared by countless MK and APLA veterans, SDU members, and internal operatives whose legacies are being erased.

This crisis strikes at the heart of our liberation heritage, dishonouring the vision of Oliver Tambo and the collective courage that toppled apartheid. The inaction of Deputy President Mashatile and Minister Motshekga reflects a deeper failure of leadership, one that President Ramaphosa must address by removing Motshekga from office.

The EFF’s demands are unequivocal: remove General Mashoala, digitize the DVCE process, and establish criteria that uphold the truth of our struggle. We will fight relentlessly until our veterans’ sacrifices are recognized, their dignity restored, and their contributions enshrined in a just system. South Africa owes this sacred duty to its liberation heroes—not as a favour, but as a matter of justice, for the integrity of our history and the soul of our nation hang in the balance.

* Carl Niehaus is an EFF Member of Parliament (MP). He serves as the EFF's permanent representative on the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans, and the Joint Standing Committee on Defence.

** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL, Independent Media or The African.