Figures compiled as part of a new study to find out what the criminal justice system is costing South Africans show the amount was R38,3-billion in the past financial year and will reach R51-billion by 2007/8.
Taxpayers have already had to fork out R43,6-billion in 2005 compared to R14-billion a decade ago.
Yet South Africa still appears to be under-resourced, employing only 234 cops and six prosecutors for every 100 000 people - way below international averages.
The report by police employee Antony Altbeker, entitled Paying for Crime: South African spending on criminal justice, said the three government departments that comprise the justice system - safety and security, justice and constitutional development, and correctional services - were allocated 10,4 percent of the Budget for 2005/6.
This equates to about R900 for every man, woman and child in the country.
Of this, about 65 percent or R28,5-billion went to Safety and Security, 14 percent or R5,9-billion went to Justice, and 21 percent or R9,2-billion to correctional services.
"The bulk of the criminal justice budget is spent on personnel, with salaries, pensions and medical aid contributions consuming 71 percent of the total budget in 2005/06."
Altbeker said the combined personnel expenditure paid just over 210 600 officials, of whom 156 000 are in the police, 18 200 are in the Justice Department - including 1 420 engaged in work that is not core to the criminal justice system - and 36 300 are in Correctional Services.
"Interestingly, however, between 1998/99 and 2001/02, personnel numbers in the criminal justice system actually fell from about 175 500 to about 164 700. This was entirely due to a decline in police numbers over that period, from nearly 132 000 to less than 119 000.
"For this period, average compensation levels grew 40 percent faster than the police personnel budget. The result was that police management was forced to place a moratorium on police recruitment until the establishment had shrunk to the point where the personnel budget could comfortably cover the salaries of those who were in police employ."
He said South Africa employed about 234 police for every 100 000 citizens, compared to an average of about 380 for the 52 countries for which data was available.
"The international average is, however, a little distorted by the very high police per capita figures for the former Soviet republics and for a number of small Far Eastern countries.
"Nevertheless, even the (average) figure for this sample of countries of 340 police officers per 100 000 is substantially higher than South Africa's.
"In relation to the prosecution, a similar pattern of relative under-resourcing appears since South Africa has about six prosecutors per 100 000 people."
Altbeker also compared the average number of police employed per murder committed - for 43 countries for which data was available - and the average had been 158.
"South Africa's figure (for 2003/04), at seven officers per murder (or nine, if we include civilian employees of the police), was a little more than one twenty-fifth of the international average."
South Africa's figure of 0,14 prosecutors per murder in 2003/04 was a little more than one-twentieth of the international average.
Altbeker said: "This means that the typical official in South Africa's criminal justice system has a far higher workload than officials in other countries."
The case of prisons is slightly different from that of the police and the prosecution service.
"Here, South Africa seems to be getting a relatively high level of capacity out of the resources dedicated to the criminal justice system since we incarcerate a far higher proportion of our citizenry than do other countries."