‘Police working with NPA to fast track cases’, says Cele of missed DNA testing backlog target

The backlog in DNA testing has been significantly reduced as government seeks to intensifying its fight against gender based-violence and femicide (GBVF).

The Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on GBVF briefed the media on Monday ahead of the two-day Presidential Summit, which is set to take place this week at Gallagher Estate, Midrand.

The IMC – led by Minister in the Presidency responsible for Women, Youth and People With Disabilities Maite Nkoana Mashabane – provided an update progress made by government in implementing the National Strategic Plan on GBVF.

This comes after President Cyril Ramaphosa, in January this year, signed the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Bill, Domestic Violence Amendment Bill and the Criminal and Related Matters Amendment Bill into law.

Ramaphosa said, at the time, the new pieces of legislation would “strengthened the criminal justice system”.

Progress

During Monday’s briefing, Police Minister Bheki Cele confirmed that much progress has been made in clearing up the DNA backlog processing at the National Forensic Science Laboratories (NFSL) of the South African Police Service (Saps).

“It’s progress that we believe is good,” he said.

The minister said the DNA testing backlog has since been reduced to 71 000 as of April this year.

“In the first quarter of 2021/2022, we had that huge [DNA] backlog of 241 000 [and] most [them are linked to cases of] women [who were] raped and murdered. We are not going to resolve those cases if those things are not done,” he said.

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He blamed the backlog on the expiration of critical contracts, which were in place for, among other things, the procurement of consumables for DNA analysis.

“One of the major things was the non-professional management of contracts. Sixteen contracts were allowed to collapse,” the minister said, adding that these contracts were now being monitored on a monthly basis.

“[We will] begin to work on the renewal of [these] contracts [when they reach the last six months] so that we never go back to the situation where these contracts collapse.”

Buccal samples

Cele said the shortage in kits needed for DNA analysis of buccal samples was also one of the reasons for the backlog.

“Other problems were buccal samples that were absent at the stations [but they are now available],” he continued.

Cele previously conceded that the NFSL’s electronic registry system, which manages evidence for DNA analysis, was offline, thus, resulting a backlog crisis.

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Meanwhile, the minister further indicated that the backlog, which is delaying prosecution of hundreds of cases across the country, would be dealt with by January 2023.

“That does not mean, at the present moment, we are not working with the [National Prosecuting Authority] to fast track the cases that are ready from the side of the NPA, but would have been delayed by the DNA [backlog].

“There is a team between the NPA and the police that are working to such an extent that 16 078 [cases] have been fast tracked to take them to court,” he added.

More than 6 000 criminals, Cele pointed out, have been sentenced to life imprisonment for rape and other GBVF-related crimes.

Public Protector probe

Earlier this year, the Public Protector’s office launched an investigation into the handling of the DNA backlog, according to civil rights organisation, Action Society.

Action Society – which laid a complaint against Cele, Ramphosa, Saps and others in October 2021 – asked the Public Protector to investigate “these parties for their alleged failure to deal with the backlog of DNA evidence in a sufficiently expeditious manner”.

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