AfriForum has requested the parliamentary portfolio committee on police to investigate the viability of using private laboratories and university forensic facilities to process DNA evidence in criminal cases.
It emerged during the committee’s meeting on Wednesday that the police's DNA backlog now exceeds 140,000 cases.
AfriForum said the backlog at the police forensic science laboratory has left thousands of victims without justice, allowing violent criminals to remain on the streets. The organisation said despite repeated assurances from the police that the backlog would be addressed, the crisis had spiralled out of control.
Service contracts for forensic equipment had expired, tenders had lapsed and crucial forensic instruments were sitting idle.
“AfriForum believes that privatisation is the only logical solution. The government has repeatedly proven itself incapable of managing forensic services efficiently and unless urgent action is taken, thousands of criminal cases could be struck from the court roll due to evidence processing failures,” AfriForum said.
It said universities and private forensic institutions already possessed the necessary expertise and infrastructure to help alleviate the crisis, yet the police has ignored previous recommendations to partner with them.
“This failure by the SAPS is a direct threat to justice. If the government is incapable of doing the job then it must allow those who can to step in,” AfriForum’s spokesperson for community safety Jacques Broodryk said.
On Wednesday, the DA said it would request that the auditor-general (AG) conduct a full forensic audit into police DNA processing and forensic laboratories, as well as the division's contract management.
“The AG must take a deep dive into the operations of the DNA labs to investigate suspected irregularities and deeply concerning issues with case management and consequence systems,” the DA said.
This included looking into the serious mismanagement of DNA evidence, especially in gender-based violence and rape cases, which might be the leading cause for the withdrawal of cases from the court rolls.
TimesLIVE
Private labs, universities a solution to backlog at police forensic lab: AfriForum
Image: 123RF/digicomphoto
AfriForum has requested the parliamentary portfolio committee on police to investigate the viability of using private laboratories and university forensic facilities to process DNA evidence in criminal cases.
It emerged during the committee’s meeting on Wednesday that the police's DNA backlog now exceeds 140,000 cases.
AfriForum said the backlog at the police forensic science laboratory has left thousands of victims without justice, allowing violent criminals to remain on the streets. The organisation said despite repeated assurances from the police that the backlog would be addressed, the crisis had spiralled out of control.
Service contracts for forensic equipment had expired, tenders had lapsed and crucial forensic instruments were sitting idle.
“AfriForum believes that privatisation is the only logical solution. The government has repeatedly proven itself incapable of managing forensic services efficiently and unless urgent action is taken, thousands of criminal cases could be struck from the court roll due to evidence processing failures,” AfriForum said.
It said universities and private forensic institutions already possessed the necessary expertise and infrastructure to help alleviate the crisis, yet the police has ignored previous recommendations to partner with them.
“This failure by the SAPS is a direct threat to justice. If the government is incapable of doing the job then it must allow those who can to step in,” AfriForum’s spokesperson for community safety Jacques Broodryk said.
On Wednesday, the DA said it would request that the auditor-general (AG) conduct a full forensic audit into police DNA processing and forensic laboratories, as well as the division's contract management.
“The AG must take a deep dive into the operations of the DNA labs to investigate suspected irregularities and deeply concerning issues with case management and consequence systems,” the DA said.
This included looking into the serious mismanagement of DNA evidence, especially in gender-based violence and rape cases, which might be the leading cause for the withdrawal of cases from the court rolls.
TimesLIVE
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