North West follows policy for military veterans’ housing

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Military veterans heard this week their housing needs in North West can only be accommodated if they are listed and verified on the national veterans’ database and, if working earn less than R125 000 a year.

This clarification came from Orapeleng Tabile, deputy director for the provincial Department of Human Settlements, during a military veterans Presidential task team meeting in Potchefstroom on Tuesday. It was the third meeting in the province for the task team led by Deputy President David Mabuza.

A statement issued after the meeting at the SA Army general support base in what is widely accepted as the North West’s military capital, the provincial housing department indicated it was following national policy when it came to allocating and building houses for old soldiers.

“We cannot deviate from the policy. We are managed by policy and follow every prescript entailed in it. What we are doing in North West is the same as what has been done in all provinces in relation to this project,” Tabile says in the statement.

Sixty-eight year-old Michael Tshose, retired from the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) and now in the ranks of the SA National Military Veterans’ Association (SANMVA), is reportedly one of eighty waiting for houses.

“I’m humbled government knows what we went through. It’s through government like ours that takes care of those who dedicated their lives to protect and ensure the safety of the country, are cared for. I have been staying in small two-roomed house with my family for a long time. Now government is building a house for me and my family I’m pleased and happy I will leave a lasting legacy for my great grandchildren,” Tshose is quoted as saying in the North West provincial Department of Human Settlements statement.

The three calls in North West by Mabuza, with deputy defence and military veterans minister Thabang Makwetla in tow, follow similar “engagements” with military veterans in Eastern Cape, Gauteng, Limpopo and Free State.