The share of the fund that looks after the needs of Zwelithini and the Zulu Royal Household Trust (ZRHT) has been increased.
The fund was allocated R93.5 million when the Prime Minister of KwaZulu-Natal, Mr. Thami Ntuli, presented the budget of his office in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislative Assembly, in Pietermaritzburg, yesterday.
This fund was allocated R89 million in the previous financial year. Ntuli said the money allocated to the fund is not enough to meet its needs.
“There will be discussions in this house where we will look at where we can get more money to do the work that is in charge of the fund.”
Ntuli said that this money will help the fund to start independent projects, not expecting to be given money by the government. He said plans have begun to make the fund independent.
“We are nearing the end of the plans to establish a farm that will sell beef in Lundi. The aim is for the fund to be independent.”
Ntuli revealed that there are plans for the fund to go into the business of leasing student accommodation.
“There is a shortage of places to rent for students here in the province. This situation gives the government an opportunity to solve the existing problem facing young people.”
Ntuli announced the appointment of a new board in charge of the operation of the fund.
The board will be led by a cultural expert, Dr. Gugu Mazibuko.
“On the new board there are experts in law, culture, finance and who know the laws of the government. We did this on purpose.”
The total allocation of the Ntuli Office is R856.2 million.
The Prime Minister said that this money will carry out the existing programs to combat the abuse of women and children and the campaign to fight against immigrants entering the country illegally called “If you don’t enter the gate, you will break through”.
Ntuli said they will prioritize job creation.
“We are trying to respond to the existing challenge of many unemployed people. We will strengthen the government’s performance. We wish that when we talk about the government, we talk about a high-quality government. We see that the difference has happened. We do not judge ourselves, but people commenting from the outside say that the level of unemployed people in the province has decreased from 32% to 31%.
“When the economic situation is bad everywhere due to the chaos in the world, all the provinces are losing job opportunities, the province of KwaZulu-Natal was only able to stabilize but there were 6,000 new job opportunities. This shows that the work of the government in cooperation with foreign countries represented in the province and private companies is bearing good fruit.”