The Military Veterans Act of 2011: Promising More Than can be Delivered?

The briefing examines the Military Veterans Act of 2011 in South Africa, noting that while it aims to provide comprehensive socio-economic support and dignity to veterans, the Department of Military Veterans faces significant hurdles in funding, staffing, and implementation.

• The Military Veterans Act No. 18 of 2011 replaced the 1999 Act to provide a more holistic framework for benefits and services, though its timing led to suspicions of political motives related to support for the ANC.
• The Act defines military veterans as South African citizens who served in statutory or non-statutory military organisations from 1960 to 1994, the Union Defence Force before 1961, or the SANDF after 1994, but it is criticized for being vague and excluding former conscripts.
• The Department of Military Veterans (DMV) is tasked with managing a wide range of benefits including healthcare, housing, pensions, and skills development, but faces operational challenges such as unfilled posts and a database that currently contains 57,000 beneficiaries.
• The DMV's 2012/2013 budget is approximately R52 million, divided between administration (R18.6 million), socio-economic support (R21 million), and empowerment and stakeholder relations (R11.4 million).

APA

Hendricks, C., & Bwalya, H. (n.d.). The Military Veterans Act of 2011: Promising More Than can be Delivered? Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.org/iss-today/the-military-veterans-act-of-2011-promising-more-than-can-be-delivered

Chicago

Hendricks, Cheryl, and Henrietta Bwalya. The Military Veterans Act of 2011: Promising More Than can be Delivered? Institute for Security Studies, n.d. https://issafrica.org/iss-today/the-military-veterans-act-of-2011-promising-more-than-can-be-delivered.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Hendricks |first1=Cheryl |last2=Bwalya |first2=Henrietta |title=The Military Veterans Act of 2011: Promising More Than can be Delivered? |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |url=https://issafrica.org/iss-today/the-military-veterans-act-of-2011-promising-more-than-can-be-delivered |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{hendricksndmilitary, author = {Hendricks, Cheryl and Bwalya, Henrietta}, title = {{The Military Veterans Act of 2011: Promising More Than can be Delivered?}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.org/iss-today/the-military-veterans-act-of-2011-promising-more-than-can-be-delivered}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }