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Apla,
MK Veterans Set to Get Special Pensions
By
Moipone Malefane, IOL
South
Africa
July 4, 2005
Young liberation struggle veterans may in future receive special pensions.
The ANC decided at its national general council (NGC), which ended on
Sunday, that the Special Pension Act be amended to ensure that it covered
all veterans and that the age limit for qualification be lowered.
Currently, only liberation struggle veterans who were over 35 in 1996 are
eligible to receive the grant in terms of the Special Pension Act of 1996.
At the time, many veterans from different political organisations raised
concerns that some members joined their military wings - such as the ANC's
MK and the PAC's Apla - while they were young but were still under 35
years old when the Act was passed.
The special pension ranges from R1 000 to R5 000 a
month.
ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama said on Sunday that the resolutions
adopted by the party's NGC would be discussed further and then
implemented.
He could not say what the proposed age limit would be.
"The resolutions are still going to be looked at and there is no time
frame," said Ngonyama.
uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Veterans Foundation chairman Papi Kubu said on
Sunday night that the Act was flawed at the time that it was passed and it
was crucial that it be reviewed.
Kubu said some members, who were under 35 in 1996, have grown older now
and should qualify to receive the grant.
Kubu said: "We have been calling for the government to review the age
limit and it is a breakthrough for our members."
"As members were never agreed with the government about the age
limit, we want all the war veterans from different parties to
benefit."
Kubu stressed that most of the veterans were unskilled and unemployed.
"They need money to take care of their families. It was also unfair
to have some veterans receiving the money while some were not."
Apla's Johnson Mlambo said it was a very important step to revisit the Act
as about 15 000 veterans were excluded from pensions.
"We welcome the decision. We welcome it because people want to be
given recognition for the role they played during the liberation struggle.
They sacrificed their youth and their own personal development for the
country."
"Most of these people are currently unemployed, some tried to join
the SA National Defence Force and some are frustrated." - Staff
Reporter
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