Court bid to nullify military veterans' umbrella body set aside

In a statement on Wednesday, 16 October 2013, Tsepe Motumi, the Director-General of the Department of Military Veterans, welcomed the ruling, saying it was in the interest of all military veterans' formations.

"We, as the Department of Military Veterans (DMV), welcome this court order. We believe it will go a long way in helping military veterans' formations to streamline their organisation processes that will enable them to work effectively and efficiently with the DMV," Motumi said.

This comes after the Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLAMVA), uMkhonto we Sizwe Liberation War Military Veterans Union (MKLWMVU) and South African Defence Force Military Veterans' Association (SADFMVA) approached the court to have the conference declared null and void.

The conference was convened by the DMV on 29 September - 2 October at Birchwood Conference Centre to establish an umbrella body for military veterans.

"The Department of Military Veterans will move speedily to finalise the guidelines within six months that will stipulate the process towards the recognition of military veterans' formations that seek to represent military veterans.

"In that process, the Department of Military Veterans, working in line with Section 7 of the Military Veterans Act 18 of 2011, will consult with all military veterans' formations to finalise the guidelines," Motumi said.