Palestine Supporters Demonstrate In Front Of The International Court Of Justice. (Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The treasury has given special appropriations totalling R95 million to the departments of justice and international relations to cover their costs in bringing South Africa’s landmark genocide case against Israel before the Internation Court of Justice (ICJ).
The medium-term budget policy statement tabled in parliament on Wednesday lists an allocation of R17.359 million to the department of international relations for the filing of South Africa’s memorial — the ICJ’s term for an affidavit — setting out the country’s case against the Jewish state.
“The funds will be used for the appointment of legal representatives, professional fees for interpreters and translators, and travelling costs to the court,” the treasury said in the medium-term budget policy statement (MTBPS) estimates of expenditure.
The document was filed to the court on Monday. The government has not made it public, noting that it is the court’s prerogative to do so, but said it included 750 pages of evidence that Israel is violating the United Nations Genocide Convention.
The department received a further allocation of R40 million for other requirements associated with the legal proceedings before The Hague-based tribunal.
The department of justice received a special appropriation of R38.2 million to cover its costs related to the case.
These allocations form part of R11.2 billion in spending adjustments in the MTBPS, a considerable sum of which will cover the cost of the deployment of troops in African peace-keeping missions.
The department of co-operative governance will receive an additional R683.955 million for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of municipal infrastructure damaged by recent floods in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Free State.
The treasury has also allocated an additional R70 million for repairs to schools in the Western Cape that suffered flood damage.
The department of agriculture will receive an additional R300 million to repair infrastructure in the Western Cape damaged by the flooding, and the department of transport R571 million to repair storm damage to roads in the province.
The department of defence will receive two special allocations to cover the deployment of troops in Mozambique and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
An amount of R750 million has been allocated for expenses arising from soldier deployment as part of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) mission in Mozambique through Operation Vikela.
A further R2.1 billion has been set aside to cover expenses related to the deployment of South African National Defence Force personnel as part of the SADC mission in eastern DRC. South Africa has deployed nearly 1,200 soldiers as part of the operation to support the Congolese military against M23 rebels.
The overall budget adjustment of the department of defence totals R3.6 billion.
In a reprioritisation of funds, the treasury will shift R51.36 million from the department of military veterans to the Office of the Chief Justice (OCJ) to cover the budget shortfall for compensation of employees, in line with the latest public sector wage agreement.
The OCJ will receive a further R158 million from the National Revenue Fund to cover salary increases for judges.
The department of police is receiving an additional R26.41 million to increase visible policing during South Africa’s upcoming presidency of the G20.