Efforts to fight crime and corruption have been bolstered by a R14bn allocation in the 2023 budget to various law enforcement and regulatory bodies.
The allocation will boost investigation and prosecution of serious crimes, increase police visibility and help restore the public’s confidence in the criminal justice system.
This is on the back of the increase in crime rates in recent years. Organised criminals have exercised a stranglehold on several sectors of the economy, including energy, transport, construction and mining, prompting commentators to warn of the emergence in SA of a mafia state that undermines business and investor confidence.
SA is awaiting the decision by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on whether the country, which was previously flagged as having weak anti-money laundering and terrorism controls, could be greylisted.
President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law two acts on December 30 in an effort to bolster the country’s ability to combat financial crime. The FAFT is expected to announce its decision on February 24 with National Treasury acting director-general Ismail Momoniat saying during a pre-budget briefing that SA is prepared for “any eventualities” should there be an adverse decision.
“We have been consistently empowering law enforcement agencies...we have made phenomenal progress which [we hope] will get recognised [by FATF],” Momoniat said.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has been allocated R1.3bn to support the implementation of the recommendations of the State Capture Commission and the FATF while the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) is allocated an additional R265.3m to tackle organised and financial crime, finance minister Enoch Godongwana announced in Wednesday’s budget presentation.
The funds for the NPA will be used to appoint 120 new employees in the National Prosecutions Service and the Investigating Directorate, procure specialist prosecution services for complex matters (especially financial crimes), commission contracted forensic auditors and accountants to deal with high-priority asset forfeiture matters, establish a digital forensic data centre, provide close protection services and integrated security systems, and finance increased witness protection operational costs.
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has been allocated R100m to “initiate civil litigation in the special tribunal, flowing from proclamations linked to the recommendations of the State Capture Commission,” Godongwana said.
The SA Police Service and the department of defence have been allocated R7.8bn and R3.1bn respectively. The SAPS funds will be used to appoint an additional 5,000 police trainees while the defence funds will be used to increase security at SA’s borders.
In addition, R850m is allocated in 2023/24 to support the deployment of the South African National Defence Force in Mozambique as part of the Southern African Development Community Mission in Mozambique,” the Treasury said.
“These actions are critical to ensuring that limited public resources are not lost to criminality and graft but are instead used to lay the foundations of a more resilient economy,” the Treasury said in budget documents.
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