Chairperson, the response is that the Minister of Finance allocated the National Prosecuting Authority, NPA, an additional R102 million during his Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement of 30 October 2019, which intended to strengthen the fifth against corruption.
The breakdowns of these amounts are as follows: An amount of R38 million, to fund a newly established investigative directorate, which is central to the prosecution of corruption cases; R29 million, to strengthen the Asset Forfeiture Unit and Special Crimes Court Unit; R20 million to support the Witness Protection Programme; R15 million to improve the security measures at the NPA, particularly arising from the investigations pertaining to corruption.
The National Prosecuting Authority has received the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, carry through costs for the above-mentioned priorities, as well as funding for the reinstatement of the Aspirant Prosecutor
Training Programme. This programme has not been in place for some time. It has now been reinstated.
Also, the filling of critical posts within the National Prosecuting Services which have not been able to fill posts for the past five years, have now starting to do so. The National Prosecuting Authority has not received additional funding for gender-based violence during the Estimates of National Expenditure, ENE, and the Medium- Term Expenditure Framework processes.
However, it is important to note that, through the initiatives led by the President on gender-based violence and femicide, all departments have been requested to identify budget within their baseline allocation for a purpose of addressing the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide. An initial amount of R1,1 billion was earmarked for this purpose. Priority activities of the NPA are funded through the baseline allocation of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has been identified for this purpose.
The above allocations attest to the ANC-led government's commitment to fight corruption, gender-based violence and femicide. This remains the priority of government and the security cluster in particular. I thank you.