Cape Town - Government will in the next year pump billions of rands into the country's fight against crime with more than R2 billion set aside to increase police personnel from the current 190 000 to 202 260 in 2014.
This is on top of the R60.7 billion allocated to the police service for the upcoming financial year.
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said during his Budget Speech on Wednesday that a combined total of R12.8 billion will go towards the security cluster which consists of the Departments of Police, Justice and Constitutional Development, Correctional Services as well as the Independent Complaints Directorate.
Government has made crime reduction one of its top priorities. Although crime is declining, particularly murder, the rates of violent crime in the country remain high according to the latest statistics.
Staff increases in the police service will support more visible policing and detective and crime intelligent services. An additional R140 million is allocated to strengthen about 20 trained tactical response teams and to establish "an effective" personnel vetting structure for criminal intelligence services.
As stated during the security cluster briefing earlier this week, additional funds will be channeled towards bringing down crime levels, clearing court case backlogs and the integration of the criminal justice system.
Gordhan's budget brings the total expenditure on public order and safety to R91 billion in the next year, rising to R105 billion in 2014. Personnel costs, including salary adjustments and occupation-specific dispensation are said to be the major costs drivers in the security cluster
The cluster also plans to recruit more judges and magistrates while plans are in place to build 103 police stations in rural areas across the country. More than R4.7 billion will be set aside for this purpose. An additional R490 million will go to the construction of new courts including high courts in Nelspruit and Polokwane bringing the total number of high courts to 16, Gordhan said.
The cluster further said that the criminal justice system required modern integrated systems to coordinate work across agencies - for this purpose R670 million has been set aside for the upgrade of IT infrastructure.
It was also noted that South Africa's prisons remain overcrowded, which hampers inmate rehabilitation. The Correctional Services Department budget makes provision for the allocation of R243 million to cater for operational costs of three correctional facilities currently being upgraded. The department says the facilities will eventually accommodate an additional 1 883 inmates.
