3. Until now, the SIU has made use of a mixed funding model to fund its investigations. It is allocated funds by way of direct transfer from the Justice and Constitutional Development Vote. In addition, the SIU has, in the past, subsidised its budget by entering into service level agreements with some State institutions that allowed it to charge and recover its fees and expenses from the relevant institution. Recently, the validity of these service level agreements was questioned. Consequently, the SIU has not been able to enter into new service level agreements, which has seriously affected the SIU's operational budget. Although, the SIU received a substantial additional allocation in 2011/12 and its allocation for 2012/13 has increased significantly, this was specifically intended to address the funding shortfall: the expectation is that, when the necessary legislative amendments are effected, the SIU will once more supplement its resources by charging for its services. The proposed amendments, therefore, empower the SIU to charge fees to defray operational costs from a State institution relating to an investigation.