Legal Aid South Africa was established in terms of Section 2 of the Legal Aid South Africa Act, 2014 (Act 39 of 2014), to provide state-funded legal aid and advice to eligible individuals to ensure access to justice and the realisation of individuals’ rights to legal representation in accordance with the Constitution.
The entity focuses on providing legal assistance to children, women, detainees, and in divorce or domestic violence cases and land rights matters. The entity will continue to prioritise providing legal assistance to eligible people over the MTEF period at the state’s expense.
Expenditure is expected to increase at an average annual rate of 2.6%, from R2.2 billion in 2022/23 to R2.4 billion in 2025/26. Spending on compensation of employees accounts for an estimated 80.8% (R7.4 billion) of total expenditure over this period. The entity is set to derive 98.8% (R9.1 billion) of its revenue over the medium term through transfers from the department.
This includes an additional allocation of R240.4 million for the legal representation portion of the land rights management facility as part of a function transfer from the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development. This funding will be used to establish a land rights management unit in the Legal Aid Services programme to offer legal representation and assistance on land‐related matters.
Expenditure is expected to increase at an average annual rate of 2.7%, from R2.1 billion in 2021/22 to R2.2 billion in 2024/25, with compensation of employees accounting for 81.6% (R1.7 billion) of this spending, increasing at an average annual rate of 2.5%. Included in this are additional allocations of R11.2 million in 2022/23, R11.3 million in 2023/24 and R11.8 million in 2024/25 to fund the costs of 15 legal practitioners appointed in 2021/22 to service newly established courts for specialised commercial crimes in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West and Northern Cape.
The entity expects to derive 99% (R6.4 billion) of its revenue over the medium term through transfers from the department, increasing at an annual average rate of 2.8%, from R2 billion in 2021/22 to R2.2 billion in 2024/25.
The SIU derives its mandate from the SIU and Special Tribunals Act of 1996. Its primary function is to investigate serious malpractice, maladministration and corruption affecting the administration of state institutions, and take or assist in taking appropriate and effective legal action against wrongdoers.
A Special Tribunal was established in 2019/20 to act as a dedicated court for civil proceedings. The tribunal aims to provide timely litigation to recover wrongfully acquired funds and assets. Over the medium term, the entity will aim to initiate civil litigation in the tribunal to hear cases related to the recommendations of the state capture commission. As a result, the number of cases enrolled at the tribunal is expected to increase from 35 in 2022/23 to 65 in 2025/26. To enable this, the entity has been allocated an additional R50 million in 2023/24, R30 million in 2024/25 and R20 million in 2025/26. The entity aimed to develop the capabilities to investigate and root out maladministration and corruption at all levels of the State.
To enable this, expenditure is expected to increase at an average annual rate of 20.3%, from R871.5 million 2022/23 to R1.5 billion in 2025/26. This increase is mainly due to an increase in spending on compensation of employees, from R576.2 million in 2022/23 to R1.1 billion in 2025/26, at an average annual rate of 23.7%. This is expected to enable the entity to increase its number of personnel from 650 in 2022/23 to 900 in 2025/26.
As a result, the number of investigations closed per year is expected to increase from 1 450 in 2022/23 to 1 750 in 2025/26, and the number of investigative reports submitted to The Presidency is expected to increase from 20 to 33 in the same period.
The entity expects to derive 60% (R2.2 billion) of its revenue over the next three years through charging client departments and state institutions for services rendered, and 40% (R1.5 billion) through transfers from the department.
Non‐tax revenue is expected to increase at an average annual rate of 35.5%, from R402.6 million in 2022/23 to R1 billion in 2025/26, largely due to the anticipated increase in the number of billable hours for investigations.
The National Prosecuring Authority was established in 1998 and comprises the National Directors of Public Prosecutions, Deputy National Directors of Public Prosecutions, Directors and Special Directors of Public Prosecutions and other members of the prosecuting authority appointed at or assigned to the NPA, and members of the administrative staff.
It provides a coordinated prosecuting service that ensures that justice is delivered to victims of crime through general and specialised prosecutions. It also removes profit from crime and protects certain witnesses.
The National Prosecuring Authority has the power to:
The Deputy National Directors of Public Prosecutions are responsible for the following divisions:
The Special Directors of Public Prosecutions head the following specialised units:
Over the medium term, the authority will focus on:
To achieve these outcomes, the National Prosecuring Authorityplans to address key challenges in its operating environment, including stabilising the organisation, ensuring that sufficient financial and human resources are available to enable effective operations, improving public perceptions of the NPA and repairing its reputation, and enhancing collaboration and cooperation between all criminal justice agencies.
The National Prosecutions Service is a core division of the NPA, responsible for general and specialised criminal prosecutions. The Directors of Public Prosecutions are the heads of their respective areas of jurisdiction, which are established according to provincial demarcations in each of the seats of the high courts.
All the public prosecutors and state advocates working in the district, regional and high courts fall under the responsibility and direction of the Directors of Public Prosecutions. The Special Directors of Public Prosecutions are appointed to carry out certain functions and responsibilities related to a particular crime type, as assigned by the President by proclamation in the Government Gazette.
The Office for Witness Protection is established in terms of the Witness Protection Act of 1998, and is headed by a director, appointed by and operating under the direction and authority of the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, for the purpose of administering the Act.
The Office for Witness Protection is responsible for the protection (including temporary protection) of witnesses and related persons, in accordance with the Act. All OWP functions and duties are classified secret in terms of the Witness Protection Act of 1998.
The Asset Forfeiture Unit was established in May 1999 as a division of the NPA to focus on the implementation of Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 of the POCA of 1998. The unit was created to ensure that the powers in the Act to seize criminal assets would be used to their maximum effect in the fight against crime, in particular, organised crime. Criminal assets seized by the AFU are paid into the Criminal Assets Recovery Account. It seizes assets acquired from the proceeds of crime or that have been part of an offence through criminal or civil processes.
The Specialised Commercial Crime Unit is mandated to investigate and prosecute commercial crimes and organized commercial crimes. The complexity of commercial crimes requires a more methodical and collaborative investigatory approach if investigations are to lead to a positive result for the state. For this reason, the relationship between commercial investigative branches of SAPS, especially the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI/Hawks), and the NPA is more synergistic.
As an active participant in the ACTT, the SCCU actively identifies, investigates and fast tracks for prosecution corruption cases in the private and public sector. Beyond investigating and prosecuting commercial crimes, the SCCU team is required, through ongoing engagements with local and international colleagues, to keep up with international commercial crime trends. Interactions are designed to inform SCCU on specific issues related to cross-border crime. For example:
Commercial crimes can be categorised as simple as bank fraud to more complex tax schemes to intricate cybercrimes that span the globe. The SCCU’s seasoned prosecutors are trained to understand, investigate, and prosecute each of these diverse types.
The SCCU is tasked with investigating and prosecuting case identified by the DPP and the DPCI as priorities. As well as managing the investigation and prosecution of complex cases referred by the Public Protector and SIU that require their specialised skills of the SCCU prosecutors.
At a time when public corruption leads the news, the SCCU is tasked with investigating and prosecuting all public sector fraud and corruption allegations and making a determination on prosecution.
The global nature of some commercial crimes makes investigation and prosecution a challenge. The SCCU prosecutors are trained to understand the complexity of these crimes and are trained to navigate the global banking system used to hide illicit gains.
The DoJ&CD continues to play a crucial role in the fight against corruption through the implementation of the Anti- Corruption Strategy. Part of the department’s responsibility in combatting corruption is ensuring the effective and optimal functioning of the SCCCs, which are expected to be extended to all provinces that do not have these courts – over the medium term.
Much success has been derived from the existing SCCC model which allows for a close integration of the work between prosecutors and investigators, and dedicated courts, ensuring that matters are quickly and effectively processed instead of having to await space on an open court roll.
Whilst it was initially envisaged that these courts would be set up in three years, the DoJ&CD was able to expedite this by establishing six courts in the 2020/21 financial year. In the 2021/22 and 2022/23 financial years, the department will ensure that the capacity and efficacy of the SCCCs is enhanced and optimised.
The unit is mandated to tackle cases that threaten national security. It was created by a presidential proclamation. The primary function of the unit is to manage and direct investigations and prosecutions in respect of the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, chemical and biological).
The SOCA unit’s mandate is to act against the victimisation of vulnerable groups, mainly women and children. The unit develops strategy and policy, and oversees the management of cases relating to sexual offences, domestic violence, human trafficking, maintenance offences and children in conflict with the law.
The unit aims to:
One of the entity’s key achievements in ensuring government’s commitment to the fight against sexual offences and GBV is the establishment of Thuthuzela Care Centres – one-stop facilities located at public hospitals in communities where sexual assault is particularly high. The facilities are aimed at reducing secondary victimisation, improving conviction rates and reducing the cycle time for the finalisation of rape cases.
The role of the Family Advocate is to promote and protect the best interests of children in civil disputes over parental rights and responsibilities.
This is achieved by monitoring pleadings filed at court, conducting enquiries, filing reports, appearing in court during the hearing of the application or trial, and providing mediation services in respect of disputes over the parental rights and responsibilities of fathers of children born out of wedlock.
In certain instances, the Family Advocate also assists the courts in matters involving domestic violence and maintenance. Furthermore, litigants are obliged to mediate their disputes before resorting to litigation. Unmarried fathers can approach the Family Advocate directly for assistance without instituting any litigation.
Children’s rights to participate in, and consult on, decisions affecting them have been entrenched; the Family Advocate is the mechanism whereby the voice of the child is heard.
Source: South Africa Yearbook 2022/23
