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Plans to Rid KZN of Illegal Firearms

BuaNews (Pretoria)
NEWS
May 26, 2004
Posted to the web May 26, 2004

By Chris Khumalo
Pietermaritzburg
KwaZulu-Natal Premier S'bu Ndebele has announced plans to rid the province of
firearms, describing it as the most "armed" in the country.
Delivering his State of the Province address here yesterday, Mr Ndebele said
the situation was so serious such that the government could not begin to talk
about peace but the absence of war.
"This does not only pose a threat to the stability of our province but also
impedes the ability of citizens of our province to predict and plan their way
of life.
"In this context it is not enough to bury the hatchet. You can always remember
where you buried the hatchet in a community that does not use the weapon of
criticism but criticism by weapons," he said.
Mr Ndebele said in order to root the province of this problem of being awash
with firearms; the government was set to take vigorous steps to clean it.
"Towards this, we will be calling on our provincial Department of Safety and
Security to immediately work out a comprehensive plan, to be submitted to us in
the next three months, to rid KwaZulu-Natal of the massive illegal weapons", he
said.
However he said these initiatives did not take away the responsibility from the
political parties, in particular the ANC and IFP, to play a role not only in
undoing the ravaging effects of violence and hostility.
"But the two organisations should ensure that everlasting peace and stability
prevail in our province. Equally, the law enforcing agencies should, while the
talks continue, enforce the law against perpetrators of violence without fear
or favour", he said.
In his address, Mr Ndebele also noted that his province was the most affected
by the scourge of HIV and AIDS.
To deal with this, he said his government was committed to combating the
epidemic through the national comprehensive strategy focusing on prevention,
care and support for HIV negative and positive people.
Currently, said Mr Ndebele, the provincial department of health was providing
voluntary counselling and testing, conducting CD4 counts and viral tests.
This also includes providing antiretrovirals (ARVs) to people living with AIDS
at accredited sites, treatment for opportunistic infections and sexually
transmitted infections.
To increase the ARV roll out, he said by early June twelve more sites would
have been added and by September, a total of 30 sites would be operational with
800 patients in treatment programmes.
"By March 2005, 40 ART sites would be running and a total of 20 000 [patients]
will be on treatment," he said.

   

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