Finance Minister Trevor Manuel's 2008 Budget provides more money for justice, crime prevention and policing, in line with urgent calls from all sides: from the President, from the new ANC leadership and from the opposition.

The minister told the National Assembly that additional allocations over the next three years amount to more than R10-billion, including expansion of police numbers to reach more than 200 000 in 2010/11, more prosecutors, judges and magistrates.

"While acknowledging that there is much to be done," he said, "the statistics show that progress is being made and we are mindful of the debt we owe to those whose work involves exposure to danger and heavy case-loads."

Additional allocations of R250-million are to help upgrade equipment in the police's forensic laboratories, where the delays to scientific analysis of evidence in criminal cases have been causing scandalous delays to prosecution.

Forty more police stations are to be built, and there will be an additional 18 000 prison places.

By the year of the soccer World Cup, another R640-million has been allocated for deployment of the 31 000 police officials who will assure the security of the events around the country. Provision is already made for 10 000 police reservists to help them.

An amount of R1.3-billion is allocated for the upgrading and renewal of the ICT network of the police service, providing a platform for better control of vehicles, dockets and firearms. The physical control of these items has been the cause of much adverse comment by the auditor general, and by opposition MPs who have visited police stations in the course of their constituency duties.

Fifty new judges, 170 magistrates and 171 public defenders are provided for in an extra allocation of R410-million, and a further R65-million supports the prosecuting authority's electronic case-flow management system.

In the meantime the justice department is continuing its assignment of two prosecutors to each court in the country.

The 18 000 new prison places will be in six new prisons in an effort to reduce overcrowding and improve rehabilitation. Five of the new prisons will be built through public private partnerships, and a further R300-million is being spent of staff at the new prison in Kimberley.