Hefty royal increase
MORE than R71-million has been set aside by the provincial government to support King Goodwill Zwelithini and the royal household.
This was announced by KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala, who tabled his office’s R800,2-million budget in a virtual sitting of the provincial legislature on Tuesday.
The 2020/2021 allocation for the royal household represents a significant increase from last year’s R66.7-million.
‘The king and royal household support comes in the form of coordination and management of His Majesty’s traditional and cultural events, providing logistical services and the maintenance of the royal palaces.
‘Also included is support for the king’s agricultural activities, looking after the well-being of the royal house through the KZN Zulu Royal House Trust,’ said Zikalala.
He added the trust will continue to render services with a much sharper focus on revenue-generating activities.
‘The trust will perform upgrades, repairs and maintenance to all eight palaces in KwaDlamahlahla, KwaKhethomthandayo, KwaKhangela, KwaLinduzulu, eNyokeni, Osuthu, Ondini and eMachobeni / Ingwavuma,’ Zikalala said.
Other budget allocations announced on Tuesday include R136-million for administration, R437-million for institutional development, R93-million for information communication technology (ICT) and R165-million for special programmes.
Zikalala said KZN has had to reprioritise its allocations to support the fight against Covid-19, which has wreaked havoc on departmental budgets.
‘The estimation of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contraction in KZN as a direct result of Covid-19, is R26-billion.
‘The national government announced a R500-billion relief package. An amount of R130-billion of this will be funded from within existing government financial resources.
‘This, therefore, means that the provincial budget that was tabled in this house in March by the MEC for Finance, must be reprioritised and funds be redirected towards funding the Covid-19 response,’ Zikalala said.