Motshekga tells Military Ombud to tighten its belt amid record number of complaints

SANDF members at Air Force Base Waterkloof in Centurion on 15 June 2025. Picture: Gallo Images/Sharon Seretlo Defence and Military Veterans Minister Angie Motshekga and the department’s portfolio committee are at odds over the autonomy of the sector’s ombudsman. The ombudsman is an oversight function within the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) dealing with complaints from former and current military personnel.

The Military Ombudsman gave a presentation to the portfolio committee on defence on Friday to outline its performance and challenges over the last financial year. The 2024-25 financial year saw the most complaints submitted in the last five years, having doubled since 2020-21 from 297 to 590. Including cases carried over last year, the oversight entity finalised 593 cases last year, exceeding the previous high of 357 in 2020-21.

The number of cases carried over from the previous years has also dropped year-on-year, from a 148-case high in the 2019-20 financial year, to 69 from last year. Retired Lieutenant General Vusumuzi Masondo, the head of the ombudsman, pinpointed what was creating the most work for his office. “I need to point out to parliament that we receive a lot of complaints from military veterans complaining about benefits,” said Masondo. Of the complaints received last year, 72 were related to service benefits, and 51 were due to service terminations.