Thank you very
much for the good debate, hon members, thanks you. Allow me to start by acknowledging the presence of the leadership of Armscor, the board and the chief executive officer, CEO, Defence and Military Veterans, DMV, led by General Mgwebi, appeals board, the Advisory Council, the Defence Force Service Commission and the Reserve Force Council - these are all our entities and are here. [Applause.]
Hon members, it's true that the term for our Military Ombud has come to an end and we are now in the process of identifying a new Military Ombud. We want to thank General Matanzima for his tireless efforts to make sure that even though he was dealing with soldiers' grievances, he ensured that he strikes a very healthy balance in the relationship together with the SA National Defence Force, SANDF. Thank you very much for that kind of political maturity. [Applause.]
Allow me to thank Dr Gulume - I thought it was not the right time to thank you, but now that it has been mentioned, we thank you for your service in government and hopefully we will see you
even though you will not be in the department. We will see you somewhere still serving the people of South Africa as you had committed yourself during your young days. [Applause.]
Hon members, the five-year term of office of the permanent Defence Force Service ended in May, last year. We have appointed four new commissioners with effect from 01 January, who joined the three serving commissioners who were appointed with effect from 01 May 2015. We now intend to appoint three additional commissioners because all the commissioners who have been appointed are men, no women applied. We are going all out to get three additional commissioners to come in as part of the Defence Force Service Commission.
I have noted with appreciation the recommendations of the commission ... General ... and I am sure you will continue with the agenda of pushing for your recommendations which you have submitted to me for implementation by the Department of Defence and Military Veterans wherever you are in the committee.
Of course we know there have been physical constraints; and some of the recommendations you made could not be complied with. I do want to say that hopefully even if you are in the committee, we will still continue to engage and facilitate for an opportunity between the committee and the commander-in-chief, together with National Treasury; we have not given up on that one.
Hon members, I present to you this Budget of the Department of Defence and Military Veterans an amount of R50,510 billion which has been allocated for Vote 19. I am appealing to all political parties to support this Budget. I am sure the hon member from the PAC will agree that, if he does not vote for this Budget, we will not be able to address the challenge of Mama who is dying and is threatening suicide in Umthatha.
Please, give us that vote to get this Budget so that we can address some of the challenges which you have addressed here. Thank you very much, hon members. [Applause.]