The Department of Defence and Military Veterans has announced that the first batch of approved military veteran pension applicants received their first payment on Wednesday, 1 November 2023.
However, the department stated that the recipients will be getting their payments at the end of each month.
This comes after Defence and Military Veterans Minister Thandi Modise promulgated the Military Veterans Regulations on 6 October 2023 through the government gazette, which was followed by the Government Pension Administration Agency (GPAA) opening the admission and processing of prospective pension beneficiaries.
Defence and Military Veterans Deputy Minister, Thabang Makwetla, said he was pleased that the payment of pension benefits to eligible military veterans has already begun.
The Presidential Task Team (PTT), according to the department, has been seized with this process since its establishment by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The PTT in consultation with Military Veteran’s Associations, the department, and GPAA have been hard at work to ensure that the disbursement of the pension benefit, is paid out to all deserving military veterans.
“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,” said Makwetla.
In addition, the GPAA Director of Special Pensions, Kabelo Jonathan, explained that military veterans should note that payments will be made from the date of approval of applications.
He said all applicants who have been contacted by GPAA are required to submit the bank forms (Z894), bank statements and other relevant documents for prompt processing and payment of the military veterans pension.
To date, 18 119 applications have been received for the pension benefit of military veterans.
Military veterans are urged to apply for the pension benefit and submit applications to the GPAA via milvet.applications@gpaa.gov.za, milvet.enquries@gpaa.gov.za or 0800 11 7669. – SAnews.gov.za
