1. The Committee appreciates the candid manner in which the NPA presented its plans and explained the impact of its present funding challenges for performance, although it is simultaneously appalled at the possible consequences for the effectiveness of the criminal justice system as a whole. 2. The Committee notes that, in past years, it expressed concern regarding the NPA's financial planning and management of expenditure, which had resulted in the NPA underspending on its budget. The NPA has now indicated quite the opposite: it has serious funding challenges, which may cause overspending. The NPA paints a bleak picture: It projects that it will overspend on its compensation of employees' budget - already there is a shortfall of R25 million to pay salaries. Nor is there any money available to pay performance awards and these will be made through forced savings to the NPA's goods and services budget, which is seemingly low at 20% of the NPA's overall budget.