KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube said on Friday that her government will appoint a panel of energy experts by the end of March to coordinate and help accelerate the implementation of KZN’s Energy Master Plan.

During her State of the Province Address (Sopa) in Pietermaritzburg, under the theme ‘Taking Decisive Action in the Time of Renewal and Hope as we Rebuild a Better, Prosperous, and Resilient KwaZulu-Natal’ she set out the province’s plan post-Covid19, post-floods and post-unrest with projects and programmes.

South Africa is faced with an energy crisis that has prompted government to declare a State of Disaster.

The Premier said her province is contributing to the national effort by establishing a KZN Energy War Room, comprising government and strategic partners to oversee the province’s response to the electricity crisis.

Dube-Ncube explained that the rollout of rooftop solar panels to households in the province, in line with the pronouncement by the Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana, will be accelerated.

In addressing unemployment rate, which currently stands at 46.4%, she said job opportunities for young people and mass employment creation will be prioritised.

Dube-Ncube added that faster implementation of the economic Recovery, Reconstruction and Transformation Plan, delivering quality basic services, the maintenance of infrastructure and building a capable and agile State machinery to drive implementation is vital to revive the province’s economy.

“This address builds on the strategic initiatives implemented by this government in the period 2019 to 2022, which are an important catalyst for our Decisive Action, Renewal, Rebuilding and Resilience programme. We look to the year 2023 as being more than a year of recovery, but also growth, meaningful development and change in the lives of our fellow citizens,” she said.

The province is also working towards strengthening the fight against crime, fraud and corruption following recent violent crimes that have been reported, including a mass shooting in a KwaMashu hostel and the brutal murder of musician Kiernan Forbes, also known as AKA.

Dube-Ncube expressed concern that in the recent crime statistics, KwaZulu-Natal continues to be listed among the most violent provinces especially for women as murder, rape and gender-based violence and femicide still rate high.

She said the province will look into re-energising its approaches to tackling crime and promised to implement drastic interventions which will include curbing the proliferation of guns which will be carried out by the security cluster.

Her province is calling for a review and tighter regulation of the possession of firearms and ammunition, limiting the number of rounds a person can purchase.

However, she said her province welcomed the announcement of more boots on the ground following the passing out parade and the allocation of 1 800 police officers to KZN.

“To win the war, we need to attend to the axis of criminality involving the sophisticated networks of criminals which work with corrupt individuals in the criminal justice system. We have directed that the Department of Transport revive Operation Shanela to focus on violence and crime on our roads and strengthen the fight against crime,” she stressed.

In the fight against gender-based violence and femicide, the province is strengthening partnerships with stakeholders and non-government organisations .

Already the province has many civil society formations which are actively involved through rapid response teams.

The province is also undertaking  the refurbishment of shelters, 50 victims-friendly rooms, the development of a gender-based violence and femicide app with a panic button and the enrolment of unemployed graduates to be placed in community organisations, as well as the development of programmes through R10-million funding from the Gaming and Betting Board.