Pretoria - The Department of Military Veterans has postponed the issuing of healthcare cards to military veterans, which was scheduled to take place in Dunattor and Lenasia this week.
The department, which has been issuing the new cards across the country, said the postponement was due to administrative and logistical challenges.
In March, the department started with the process of verifying military veterans that were not part of the integration process during the formation of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) in 1994.
The new cards will, among other things, enable them to access medical care at 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria and where possible, some will be placed for employment in other government departments.
“We are committed to ensuring that the process is fast tracked so that all deserving military veterans can easily access free healthcare services and to that extent, the administrative problems that were experienced during the first round of issuing the healthcare cards are resolved as speedily as possible,” said departmental spokesperson Mbulelo Musi.
The second round of issuing of the cards was made to ensure that all the remaining military veterans who did not receive cards in the first round in Gauteng were able to get their cards.
The date for the conclusion of the Gauteng round and the schedule for the remaining provinces will be announced soon.
Out of about 6 500 military veterans, roughly 1 100 have received their healthcare cards.
The Director General of the Department of Military Veterans, Tsepe Motumi, had earlier explained that the issuing of the healthcare cards was a significant step in ensuring that the department rolls out the social benefits stipulated in the Military Veterans Act, no 18 of 2011.
The department has established a verification panel of five members from the former Non-Statutory Forces to conduct the verification process.
For more information, the military veterans, their dependants as well as associations can contact the department on (012) 671 1890 and 076 402 9070 or 078 099 2564. – SAnews.gov.za
