Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has kept his promise to increase spending on safety and security over the next three years to appoint 15 000 police trainees and 120 staff members for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) while pursuing state capture cases.
The safety and security budget will increase by just under R20 billion between the current financial year and 2025-26.
Of that, R7.8 billion will go to the police budget to select 5 000 recruits a year and absorb them into the service after they complete their training.
A R1.3 billion more will go to the NPA to support the implementation of the recommendations of the Zondo Commission of the investigation into state capture, and to implement the recommendations of the pending evaluation of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in the legal framework of South Africa. to fight money laundering and terrorist financing.
The allocation will support new appointments in the NPA and the Directorate of Investigations, with a focus on employing specialists who can prosecute complex financial crimes and the commissioning of forensic auditors and accountants who can deal with asset seizure issues on a priority basis.
The weakness has been evident in both areas as the country seeks to bring major corruption cases to court – the first state arrest trial began in January – and attempts to recover billions lost to money laundering networks, led by the fugitive Gupta brothers and their business associates.
Chief Justice Raymond Zondo warned that it would take an “army of prosecutors” to carry out the investigations called for in his report, and lamented the poor track record of the NPA when it comes to successfully bringing corruption cases to court.
The Asset Forfeiture Unit has come under pressure to increase the value of the freeze order after falling short of its annual target of R1.8 billion.
The Special Investigative Unit will receive a budget of R100 million over the next three years, in order to bring civil trials to the Special Court in cases arising out of the proclamation issued by the president in response to findings of state capture.
The court has contributed significantly to the financial recovery of ill-gotten gains, but its legal status has been challenged before the constitutional court, which has yet to rule on the matter.
The Financial Intelligence Center will receive an additional R265.3 million over the medium term to implement the recommendations of the Zondo and FAFT commissions. This will allow the Financial Intelligence Center to appoint 107 staff members, which include forensic accountants, inspectors, strategic analysts and enforcement officers.
Some of the additional allocation to the cluster will be used to create a forensic data center and provide security for whistleblowers.