Dear Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans,

Thank you for this way to communicate. My name is Jan Estruis, retired Major and proudly served in the military from 1968 -1999. I joint the apartheid army as a orphan after spending from the age of 12 in the NGK Herberg -Pofadder and School of Industries Ottery Cape Town. Since I left the army, I dedicated a lot of time to assist my fellow military veterans free of charge especially those who are still struggling just to tap in to their military veterans benefits and now with a well respected Lt Gen [Ret] DM Mgwebi, SD,SM,MMM at the helm, it seems slowly but surely he make inroads. Our poorest of the poor and even those who can afford it to pay for calls to numbers at the various units at DMV are still struggling to get SOMEONE to answer,let alone the Call Centre.Everything cannot be left for Lt Gen Mgwebi to fix. The ONLY office as far as concern that is productive is that of Alettie Sutherland and Robert Makena at the database, they real winners! Individuals have the right to be served when information or assistance is needed, but, yoh, some times you get the impression that some of the staff themselves are under the impression they are doing our veterans some favours. I am not in need of anything, I have my own house fully paid and would really see all of our military veterans, no matter where he or she served, they need to be respected and treated as human beings and get what they are entitled to. If two staff members like Alettie and Robert can be so dedicated why not the rest. We as military veterans must be looked after, even you all. It is difficult to put the frustration we experience on a daily basis with certain units in that beautiful building. Please, please is there anything you can assist our department with. We have a wonderful and passionate Minister and Acting DDG, but eish, help please, so that our department renders a professional service. I trust in you to come up with a workable idea, to assist all military veterans with dignity!