Police Minister Senzo Mchunu has unveiled his department's 2025/26 budget, with a strong focus on combating crime in four of South Africa's most affected provinces: KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, the Western Cape, and the Eastern Cape.
Tabling the budget on Friday morning, Mchunu announced that the South African Police Service (SAPS) has been allocated just over R120 billion for the financial year. A large portion of the funding will support intelligence-driven and targeted deployments in high-crime areas.
“It is clear that identified high-crime zones in all four provinces require intelligence-led, targeted deployment of specialised units to combat criminality, over and above Operation Shanela,” Mchunu said. “A total of 225 hotspot police stations have been identified, requiring focused and synchronised interventions.”
In April, Mchunu highlighted the persistently high crime levels in these provinces, prompting the department to prioritise them in its baseline budget allocations.
Among the targeted measures, an additional R85 million will go toward supporting the country’s top 30 police stations affected by high-contact crimes. A further R28 million has been earmarked for strengthening community policing forums (CPFs), enabling the procurement of vital resources such as torches and reflective jackets.
To boost community engagement, R8.5 million will also be dedicated to activities such as imbizos and awareness campaigns aimed at fostering collaboration between law enforcement and residents.
Mchunu stressed that restoring public trust and strengthening local policing structures are key to turning the tide against crime.