KZN premier Thami Ntuli goes to war on GBV, crime, spending and illegal foreigners

The KwaZulu-Natal government will be placing 173 volunteers in police stations to strengthen its fight against gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF), says premier Thami Ntuli.

Ntuli said the 173 volunteers are being recruited to be placed in police stations to help monitor compliance with the Domestic Violence Act and engage in campaigns against GBVF.

Under the government of provincial unity, the department of community and safety liaison was moved to the office of the premier who, when reflecting on his first 100 days in office, highlighted another of his campaigns as a success. 

“We launched a crime-prevention campaign called Engangeni Ngesango Iyafohla that focuses on the increasing numbers of undocumented illegal foreign nationals and businesses that employ undocumented foreign nationals,” he said. 

The campaign was launched in eThekwini and moved to Mandeni. It will also be rolled out to other districts. 

Despite some successes, the premier said, the government anticipates that it will not fulfil all its promises within expected time frames because of financial limitations affecting the province.

Consequently, the provincial government has undertaken measures to limit non-essential spending.

These include reducing travel expenditure by 30% and extending replacement life cycle for vehicles and computers. This means there will be no purchase of new assets to replace existing movable assets unless they are written off or become dysfunctional.

“We will ensure that we improve integration at planning and implementation so that we use resources in a smart way. We are expected to produce the same, if not more, with fewer resources.

“It is our commitment to implement revenue enhancement, wherein all departments should look at ways of improving their own revenue-raising and collections, as this will increase the funds available for priority service delivery programmes,” said Ntuli.

Ntuli said his government had also agreed to fill vacant posts. “The province will limit its continuous reliance on consultants for core services — at a cost of R3.6bn [in the 2023/2024 financial year].”

He added that building capacity at district offices for implementation of adequate financial controls and reducing financial loss was also key. 

The premier said unconventional sources of revenue, alternative funding models, public-private partnerships, and leveraging natural resources sustainably to have solid public finances will also be explored, including disposing of unoccupied buildings and vacant land to ensure the government is not trapped into paying excessive property bills. 

He raised concerns about medico-legal claims to the value of R7.3bn, saying “we should reduce this liability progressively and ensure that we do not have this overhang on our health service delivery”. 

“I will ensure that we prioritise spending that covers service delivery to our citizens. I believe that with visible leadership we will be able to drive a culture of accountability and change the lives of our people,” said Ntuli.

TimesLIVE