Police Minister Bheki Cele says the policing budget will focus on addressing the frustrations and complaints of South Africans on the state of crime.

Minister Cele presented the police budget for the 2023/2024 financial year on Tuesday at the national assembly, where he outlined key interventions to combat the rampant crime levels in the country.

He tabled the SAPS Budget Vote for the financial year to the amount of R102b.

In efforts to increase crime prevention, Cele said provinces with the highest incidence of reported crime have been prioritised, adding that R65m had been set aside for such provinces as part of prioritisation and resourcing for some of the top 30 high-contact crime stations.

The police minister conceded that the increase in firearms remained a challenge, but he cited the fact that the action plan of the SAPS was reducing murder and attempted murder.

He said its plan is aimed at addressing the challenges within the Central Firearms Registry and tracing illegal firearms, citing that SAPS was ‘finalising a plan to tighten its internal controls and electronically tag all state-issued arms.’

To this end, he announced R20m was allocated towards firearm licensing, compliance, and enforcement of the Firearms Control Act.

The minister further added that R70m was allocated towards supporting community mobilisation and the resourcing of Community Police Forums (CPF) for resource requirements.

“This funding is assisting the CPFs with resources such as vehicles, laptops, torches, reflective jackets, and other tools of trade,” Cele shared. “In addition to the above, R5m is also provided for community interaction in terms of Izimbizo, awareness campaigns, summits, and conferences.”

He also presented its plans to fight Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF), indicating that the police ministry had developed an action plan that aims to respond to crimes related to GBVF, vulnerable groups, and sexual offences.

“This plan also focuses on the resourcing of FCS units, both at the national and provincial levels, with a total of R1.3b for both proactive and reactive responses to these crimes,” he announced on Tuesday.

An additional R100m was set aside for provinces to prioritise GBVF response and strengthen FCS units.

Among other things, the minister said SAPS reprioritised its funding to make way for an increase in the service allowance, which has increased from R400 to R700 per month.

Cele cited that departmental spending over the medium term was a result of core programmes with visible policing, which account for more than 51% of the total vote in 2023/24.

“The SAPS has been allocated more than R1.8b for the procurement of transport assets, such as vehicles, trucks, and buses, depending on their availability in the market.”

The minister added that the police ministry was targeting to hand over 10 newly built police stations during this financial year.

“More than R1b is allocated for the construction and upgrading of police stations. In addition to that, R30m is allocated for the procurement and conversion of vehicles to ensure that more mobile Community Service Centres are available to the community.”