Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni announced in his medium term budget policy statement on Wednesday that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) would be receiving a boost capital of R1.3 billion to improve its prosecuting capacity, however, the NPA has more than 700 available prosecutor posts since 2015 when recruitment was frozen.
The government is shifting their priority and resources to the NPA and revenue service Sars as they urgently need to strengthen their capacity to combat corruption and mismanagement added Minister Mboweni.
“Where possible, given budgetary constraints, the government is shifting resources to areas that urgently need to strengthen capacity. Through reprioritisation, the National Prosecuting Authority receives an additional R1.3bn and the SA Revenue Services receives an additional R1bn for the next two years. These funding shifts will bolster efforts to combat corruption and improve revenue collection,” said Tito Mboweni.
The medium term budget elaborates that in the next three years funds will be re-allocated to the police departments to implement and invest in Intergrated criminal justice strategy. The funds that will be located will assist to improve prosecution capacity and cases such as sex offences and community affairs unit that deal with gender based violence.
The funds located to Sars and NPA will help bring back public confidence in the judiciary system and bringing about justice for South Africans. However, politicians are questioning the fact that the NPA has 700 prosecutor posts available yet it has received an additional R1.3 bnto improve the prosecution department.
