Is the Government Neglecting South African Cape Corps (SACC) Veterans?

South Africa

Conversations are sparking up and the tension can be heard in talks about the pension fund payments received by the South African Military Veteran groups. The Department of Defence and Military Veterans announced that the first batch of approved military veteran pension applicants received their first payment on Wednesday, 1 November 2023. This leaves many SACC veterans asking why they have not received any payment. Halfway through the festive season and still, no variable answers have been given from Government according to SACC veterans.

According to the data up to 18 119 applications have been received for the pension benefit of military veterans as recorded on 2 November 2023.

“Today marks the beginning of yet another important milestone in our ongoing efforts to address the plight of military veterans in accordance with the provision of the Military Veterans Act No 18 of 2011,” Thabang Makwetla the deputy minister of the Department of Defence and Military Veterans reportedly said on 2 November 2023.

According to the 2011 Military Veterans act, a military veteran is any South African who rendered military service to any of the military organisations, former statutory and liberation armies, which were involved on all sides of South Africa's liberation war from 1960 to 1993; served in the then Union Defence Force before 1961 or became a member of the SANDF after 1994 and has completed his or military training and no longer performs military duties, and has not been dishonourably discharged from his or her respective military organisation.

Who are the SACC?

The South African Cape Corps has an extensive heritage stretching back to 1781 when they were originally formed as the Corps Bastaard Hottentoten organised by the then Dutch colonial administration. The unit was disbanded in 1782 when French mercenaries arrived in the Cape.

They were reformed, transformed and evolved as the years passed under the regimes of the Colonial governments up until the Apartheid era.

The Cape Corps was reformed again in 1963, as a non-combatant Coloured service corps; it was considered to be the successor to all the previous Coloured and Cape Corps units since 1796. The Corps was designated a Permanent Force unit of the South African Defence Force in 1972.

In 1973 the unit was renamed the South African Cape Corps Service Battalion. In 1975 the battalion was renamed the South African Cape Corps Battalion, its combatant status was restored and the first Coloured officers were commissioned.

During the period 1979 to 1989 the South African Cape Corps (SACC) was substantially expanded:

The SACC Maintenance Unit was formed in 1979 from some of the members of the original service battalion.
The original combat battalion was renamed 1st Battalion when the 2nd Battalion was raised in December 1984.
The 3rd Battalion was raised in Kimberley in 1989.
The SACC School and SACC School for Junior Leaders were founded.

The SACC was eventually disbanded on March 31, 1992. The next day 9 South African Infantry Battalion was established at Eersterivier, Cape Town in their place. No reason for the name change was ever given.

As a result of the post-1994 transformation of South Africa, “Coloured” soldiers, sailors and airmen serve alongside their fellow South Africans in a fully integrated South African National Defence Force.

Today multitudes of the SACC soldiers who were part of the liberation struggle and served within the SADF feel that they have been forgotten and that their contribution toward the prosperity of South Africa is being ignored. Many SACC veterans are said to live below the poverty line which is sickening in its own right because they laid down their lives in service of South Africa.

Confusion, Disappointment, and overall Frustration are justified emotions felt by these veterans who are being dragged along a stressful experience filled with unanswered questions and complex resolutions. After speaking to SACC veterans a pattern started to form in terms of their application processes and the feedback they received from the Department of Government Pension Administration Agency (GPAA). These veterans talked about compiling complications with a database process and a never-ending waiting process with many travelling to the GPAA offices in their old age to resolve and complete their applications in person. Even after being successfully submitted to the GPAA Database many SACC veterans are still not receiving any form of payment and this seems to sting especially since veteran members from other groups have been benefitting.

Questions are raised:

Why are SACC veterans not being taken seriously and served respectably?

Why are some veterans receiving payments and others are told to wait?

Is there still some form of honour and righteousness left within the government structures?

When will SACC veterans be paid for the blood, sweat, and tears they offered to the Nation?