The South African Military Ombud’s office has received over 1000 complaints and has been gaining gaining momentum year-on-year since it started operating in 2012.
Miltary Ombud Lt Gen (Ret) Temba Matanzima made this comment as he presented the performance statistics of the office for the 2014/15 and the 2015/16 financial years in Pretoria on Thursday.
The ombud is an independent‚ impartial third party that investigates complaints lodged in writing by South African National Defence Force members regarding their conditions of service.
It also deals with complaints by members of the public about the official conduct of soldiers.
Matanzima said in the two financial years under review‚ the office received 483 complaints and finalised 365 of them.
Some of the cases the ombud received related to promotion‚ service benefits‚ remuneration and service termination.
The ombud only carried over 118 cases to the current 2016/17 financial year.
“We are hoping to improve more on this performance in the current financial year‚” Matanzima said.
Matanzima said since the office was established in 2012‚ it has handled and processed more than one thousand complaints.
He said the office was open for business for current and former members of the defence force and the public at large.
In one of the cases‚ the ombud set aside the dismissal of a non-commissioned officer who was found guilty on a charge of culpable homicide in a magistrate’s court.
Although Section 59(1)(d) of the Defence Act provides for the termination of a member if he is sentenced to a term of imprisonment without the option of a fine‚ the ombud found that his employment was terminated before sentencing.
The ombud found that the South African National Defence Force was premature in invoking the provision and recommended that the officer be reinstated.
In another case‚ the ombud upheld a complaint by two serving members of the defence force‚ who claimed the department of defence was refusing to back-date their promotion dates.
— TMG Digital
Military Ombud has received more than 1000 complaints since its inception in 2012
The South African Military Ombud’s office has received over 1000 complaints and has been gaining gaining momentum year-on-year since it started operating in 2012.
Miltary Ombud Lt Gen (Ret) Temba Matanzima made this comment as he presented the performance statistics of the office for the 2014/15 and the 2015/16 financial years in Pretoria on Thursday.
The ombud is an independent‚ impartial third party that investigates complaints lodged in writing by South African National Defence Force members regarding their conditions of service.
It also deals with complaints by members of the public about the official conduct of soldiers.
Matanzima said in the two financial years under review‚ the office received 483 complaints and finalised 365 of them.
Some of the cases the ombud received related to promotion‚ service benefits‚ remuneration and service termination.
The ombud only carried over 118 cases to the current 2016/17 financial year.
“We are hoping to improve more on this performance in the current financial year‚” Matanzima said.
Matanzima said since the office was established in 2012‚ it has handled and processed more than one thousand complaints.
He said the office was open for business for current and former members of the defence force and the public at large.
In one of the cases‚ the ombud set aside the dismissal of a non-commissioned officer who was found guilty on a charge of culpable homicide in a magistrate’s court.
Although Section 59(1)(d) of the Defence Act provides for the termination of a member if he is sentenced to a term of imprisonment without the option of a fine‚ the ombud found that his employment was terminated before sentencing.
The ombud found that the South African National Defence Force was premature in invoking the provision and recommended that the officer be reinstated.
In another case‚ the ombud upheld a complaint by two serving members of the defence force‚ who claimed the department of defence was refusing to back-date their promotion dates.
— TMG Digital
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending
Latest Videos