SAPS facing further budget cuts - Cele
The men and women in blue will have to contend with a dwindling budget in the coming financial year after Police minister Bheki Cele delivered the department’s budget vote on Thursday.
This comes despite growing calls for police to ramp up efforts and resources to fight the high crime rates.
Expenditure is expected to decrease at an average annual rate of 0.8 per cent, from R99.6 billion in 2020/21 to R97.1 billion in 2023/24.
Close to 80 per cent of the budget is earmarked for salaries.
“To remain within government’s expenditure ceiling for compensation of employees, the department’s budget for this item is reduced by R35.8 billion over the medium term,” said Cele.
“Of this, R15.9 billion is in line with the decision not to implement the third year of the 2018 public sector wage agreement, and freezing of salary increases for the next 3 years.
“The remaining R19.9 billion represents Cabinet’s approved baseline reductions to narrow the budget deficit and shift the composition of government spending from consumption to investment.”
The budget will also place emphasis on fighting gender-based violence (GBV) - with more than R1,2 billion set aside for proactive and reactive responses
An additional R100 million is allocated to provinces for the prioritization of GBV responses.
Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal will each get R17 million, while North West is allocated R7.9 million and Limpopo is allocated R8.4 million.
Cele’s budget received mixed reaction from members of Parliament.
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