OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE KZN LEGISLATURE â ADDRESS BY THE KING AND STATE OF THE PROVINCE ADDRESS
22 February 2017
Embargo: For Immediate Release
Attention: News/Assignment Editors, Political Reporters, Reporters
From: KZN Legislature Communications Unit
RE: OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE KZN LEGISLATURE â ADDRESS BY THE KING AND STATE OF THE PROVINCE ADDRESS
Itâs all systems go for the Official Opening of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday next week.
His Majesty Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini will deliver a keynote address on the 28th February at the Royal Showgrounds.
The Kingâs address will be followed by the State of the Province Address which will be delivered by Premier Willies Mchunu on Wednesday 1st of March 2017.
Adding to the glamour and ceremony normally associated with the Official Opening of the Legislature, this yearâs event will be characterised by the display of artefacts such as traditional beads, beer pots, shields etc.
This is to assist local craftsman to be able to showcase their workmanship to visitors who will be attending the Official Opening.
Notably, this year instead of having schoolchildren forming a guard of honour for His Majesty, this task will be performed by Zulu maidens and Amabutho on the first day.
Furthermore, His Majesty will be accompanied by his regimen drawn from local and other parts of Nongoma and it will be led by Induna Yezinsizwa, Mr Mgilija.
KZN Legislature endeavours to use this event to put the concept of âUnity in Diversityâ into practice through involvement of the people of KwaZulu-Natal as the province remains a remarkable melting pot in the country and it fully subscribes to the notion of equal recognition of cultures.
The two-day event will be broadcast live in various media outlets including community radio stations, mainstream television stations and social media.
Members of the media are invited to attend.
Details of the Official Opening and State of the Province Address are as follows:
Dates : 28 February 2017 and 1st March 2017 (Kingâs Address and SOPA)
Time : 9am
Venue : Royal Showgrounds (Pietermaritzburg)
For more information please contact Wonder Hlongwa at 0829083532 or Sina Nxumalo 082906 0449.
January 2017 Schools Opening Functionality Monitoring Programme
In the past six years in January, Members of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature including the Executive, have been embarking on a programme known as the Schools Opening Functionality Monitoring Programme, which aims to monitor and ensure that teaching and learning happen on the first day of the opening of all public schools in the province.The schools functionality monitoring programme, which took place from the 11th to the 13th January 2017, is part of the Legislatureâs oversight exercise in which all Members of the Legislature visit public schools through the province to assess the state of readiness at the commencement of the academic year.
Members were deployed in all districts of the province to monitor the level of schoolsâ readiness for the 2017 academic year. They visited public schools that performed well in the 2016 senior certificate examination results and those that performed badly. The aim was to gain first-hand information on the challenges that face public schools especially those that perform badly in matric results.Members also got an opportunity to understand other challenges facing public schools such as poor infrastructure, shortage of teachers, incorrect quintile ranking, inadequate security and school vandalism to mention but a few.
During the visits, Members were accompanied by officials from the Department of Education who had to account on the challenges facing schools and the plans of addressing them. Other departments such as Social Development, Health, Cogta, Public Works as well as District and Local Mayors were part of the delegations. The visits also include meetings with stakeholders that comprise School Governing Bodies (SGBs), teacher unions, ward councillors, Amakhosi, Interfaith leaders, and other community structures.
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Health Portfolio Committee performs oversight in Harry Gwala District
As part of its constitutional mandate, the KZN Legislature through its Health Portfolio Committee visited Usher Memorial and St Margaret Hospitals on Wednesday, 16th November 2016 to inspect the provision of health services in Harry Gwala District.
The delegation was led by Hon. Bhamjee, the chairperson of Health committee. This was a follow up visit after the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) had been to Harry Gwala District in September as part of the NCOP Provincial Week. NCOP Members had visited the district to track and evaluate the levels of service delivery in KwaZulu-Natal particularly in health and education.
The Health Portfolio Committee held a series of boardroom and site meetings where the district and hospital management reported on various challenges and successes in the provision of health services in the district. The state of the two hospitals was applauded in terms of cleanliness, staff compliment, as well as the standard of service that is provided to the people of Harry District. This is in spite of the challenges such as inadequate budget, human resources and medical equipment.
Several recommendations were made by the NCOP to the MEC of Health, Dr Dhlomo on matters of importance and how such challenges could be addressed. The committee was informed of the common challenges in the district which include the shortage of doctors in rural hospitals, lack of proper sanitation, infrastructure, shortage of EMRS ambulances, and the latest challenge of drought that is facing the entire country.
Health Portfolio Committee performs oversight in Harry Gwala District
The Health Portfolio Committee visited the district to monitor the implementation of recommendations and short-term solutions that were proposed by the NCOP in September. However, the committee expressed its disappointment at the slow pace in implementing the recommendations of the NCOP, especially on short term solutions like the drilling of boreholes for water supply. The committee also noted that not much has been done on improving hospital infrastructure since the last NCOP Provincial week.
Hospital management made an undertaking to address these issues without any further delays and that the Department of Health would report before the committee on its intervention plan to address these challenge. Guided by the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) the committee also scrutinised how hospital finances were being managed including budget allocations for short and long term projects as it was resolved during the NCOP week.
Community Safety Portfolio Committee joins the public to combat crime in Umkhanyakude
Members of Community Safety Portfolio Committee at the South Africa/Mozambique border
Crime levels in Umkhanyakude District have reached alarming proportions with cross-border crime, particularly car thefts between South Africa and Mozambique having reached alarming proportions.
This has prompted the Community Safety Portfolio Committee, under the leadership of the committee chairperson, Hon. Bheki Ntuli, to visit the district recently with an aim of holding meetings with communities, local leadership and members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) to find solutions to the scourge of crime in that part of the province.
The committee started off its oversight work by visiting an illegal South Africa/Mozambique border post, notoriously known as Gate 6, where most cars stolen from South Africa are smuggled to Mozambique to be sold to crime syndicates.
At Gate 6, the committee held a meeting with commanders of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) who patrol that part of the border and SAPS top brass where they received a full briefing on the crime situation along Gate 6.
Committee members were informed that both the SANDF and SAPS lacked necessary resources to fight cross-border crime especially stealing of vehicles from South Africa. There were few members deployed along the border with insufficient equipment for intelligence gathering and that there was no proper fence along the border. That made it easy for criminals to remove the fence and smuggle vehicles across Mozambique. Even Mozambican people easily cross the fence to South Africa without any documentation.
The committee later held a public meeting at Umhlabuyalingana Municipality which was attended by local leadership including Amakhosi, councillors, members of CPFs, SAPS and other stakeholders. The meeting deliberated on a number of crime fighting initiatives and strategies which were aimed at bringing the levels of crime down.
It was noted that there was a lack of co-operation from the Mozambican authorities to stop cross-border vehicle theft once stolen vehicles reach the Mozambican side. Attempts to allow South Africa to build a base inside Mozambique have been obstructed in the past.
Committee members were unanimous in that there is a need for a high-level political intervention between South Africa and Mozambique that will find a lasting solution to the issue of cross-border crime. A bilateral meeting between governments of South Africa and Mozambique should be convened to resolve cross-border crime.
The committee also visited other police stations in Umkhanyakude including Mbazwana to get first-hand information on the issue of crime and how those police stations were dealing with it. On the last day, the committee visited Hlabisa police station and later held a public meeting with the community and other stakeholders. Committee members were informed that crime such as business robberies was on the rise in Hlabisa. The local police station lacks basic resources such as working telephones to enable the public to report crime as it happens.
Community Safety Portfolio Committee listens to a community member making input during an oversight visit to Umhlabuyalingana
Taking the Legislature to the People provides communities with direct access to their public representatives
Public interaction session at Durnacol Sport Complex
Section 118 of the Constitution of the Republic places an obligation on all Provincial Legislatures to facilitate public involvement in their law making and oversight functions. The aim is to enable the citizens of this country to participate meaningfully in the governance of their lives. This also provides the citizens an opportunity to engage directly with their public representatives in order to raise their concerns and challenges which require governmentâs intervention.
In keeping with this constitutional obligation, the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature, led by Speaker Johnson, held a two day sitting away from its chambers in Pietermaritzburg and took the Legislature to Amajuba District where ordinary citizens were afforded an opportunity to interact with their public representatives.
The sitting was held at Dunarcol Sport Complex in Dannhauser Municipality on 27 and 28 October 2016, where people of Amajuba District were able to raise issues that affect them directly in the presence of Members including the Provincial Cabinet. People were able to raise their concerns about service delivery ranging from water shortages, housing, agriculture (access to farming), poverty, unemployment, health facilities, social development programmes.
MECs responded to the issues raised by the community and provided plans to address them. On the last day of the sitting, Premier Willies Mchunu presented a detailed report which included the provincial governmentâs programme of addressing the challenges facing the community of Amajuba District.
The two day sitting was a follow up to the visits by the multiparty committee which conducted oversight on the level of service delivery in all municipalities under Amajuba. The multiparty committee, led by the Chair of Chairs Hon. Sipho Gcabashe, inspected various service delivery projects to assess their successes and challenges. The multiparty delegation had compiled a comprehensive oversight report which was presented to the people of Amajuba on the first day of the sitting.
The multiparty delegation inspecting a housing project in Newcastle
The multiparty delegation inspecting a housing project in Newcastle
Since 2004, the Legislature has visited all districts of KwaZulu-Natal to give citizens an opportunity to engage directly with their elected representatives. The programme also assists Members to gain first-hand information on the level of service delivery in communities, in order to accelerate service delivery especially in rural areas. The Legislature will continue with this programme of taking the Legislature to the people to ensure that all citizens of KwaZulu-Natal benefit from the fruits of democracy.
Senior Citizen’s Parliament 2016 in Phongola
With these services the elders are assessed, others referred for specialised services if necessary, and these services include dentistry, dietetics, physiotherapy etc. Those with high blood pressure (and have their medical cards with them), are offered treatment on-site. Senior citizens of Zululand district have praised the Legislature for providing the opportunity for them to not only express their views on service delivery issues in general, but also their specific needs for health. 
A considerable amount of work was done by Health Practitioners form Intshelejuba Hospital at the Senior Citizenâs Parliament 2016 in Phongola offering elders health services.
2016 Women’s Parliament
2016 marks the 60th Anniversary of the historic march to the Union Buildings in Pretoria by women of all races against discriminatory pass laws.Â
As we celebrate the Womenâs Month, the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature will hold its annual Womenâs Parliament on the 26th â 27Â th August 2016 in eNdumeni Municipality, Mpumelelo Sports field under uMzinyathi District Municipality.
Women from all six political parties that are represented in the Legislature will participate in this event. The theme of the 2016 Womenâs Parliament is: âWomen United in Moving South Africa Forwardâ.
The Womenâs Parliament is part of the Legislatureâs strategy to broaden public participation in the oversight and law-making processes of the Legislature and to enhance participatory democracy in KwaZulu-Natal.
