‘It seems they are well on track’ – DA ‘happy’ with Cele’s update on DNA backlog

Every piece of DNA collected is a picture of a day in the life of a victim, says criminologist Professor Jaco Barkhuizen.

“Another year and another 16 days of activism against GBV [gender-based violence], another year of sayings and government promising solutions that will not happen,” he said.

Barkhuizen said offenders were not identified in time, which meant victims were not given justice because of the backlog.

DNA backlog and GBV

“Even if the stats are true, there is still a backlog. Now, rape and sexual assault have increased to 108 people per day. Every day new DNA evidence is sent to the lab, plus the backlog,” he said.

Barkhuizen said South Africa’s legal system had to have another look at the bail and parole system.

“How many times has it not been reported that a perpetrator out on bail recommits a crime? Because of the backlog, we can’t pick up if it was the same person committing different crimes,” he said.

Barkhuizen said the forensic DNA backlog in South Africa was one of the reasons the country had such high levels of GBV.

Democratic Alliance (DA) shadow MEC for community safety Crezane Bosch and shadow MEC for social development Refiloe Nt’sekhe conducted an oversight inspection at the SA Police Service (Saps) forensic science lab in Pretoria.

DA members met with the leadership of the Saps forensic science lab behind closed doors. The media was told to contact the police communication channels.

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The visit followed the Police Minister Bheki Cele’s commitment to clear the DNA backlog by January 2023 after missing the deadline in October.

“We are happy with the information received from the general. It seems they are well on track,” Bosch said.

The lack of proper contracts and management of these contracts to purchase consumables and machinery had contributed to the backlog.

“On 22 November in Gauteng, [including Mpumalanga, Limpopo and North West] only 46 281 are still outstanding, so they are on track,” she said.

Cele misleading SA

Action Society director of community safety Ian Cameron said Cele was misleading the country when it came to the DNA backlog.

“His recent claim of the backlog standing at 71 000 is not telling the complete truth,” he said. “Instead, he uses smoke and mirrors to make it seem like the backlog is declining.”

Cameron said while the portfolio committee on police had heard the DNA backlog stood at 173 000 in March 2021, Action Society had learned through a Promotion of Access to Information Act application that the backlog stood at 241 152 in April 2021.

“Cele reported the backlog then declined to 166 327 in August last year. The minister continued publicly stating they are working down the backlog and, at the GBV Summit this month, said the backlog now stood at about 71 000,” he said.

Cameron said Cele had failed to mention he kept referring to the initial ringfenced cases, which excluded new cases not processed within 30 days after June 2021.

ALSO READ: DNA test backlog ‘delaying justice’ 

“If Cele had been leading with integrity, he would have explained the backlog continues to grow because the National Forensic Service Laboratories cannot handle the influx of about 18 000 new entries per month,” he said.

Cameron said Cele should stop being stubborn and admit he needed help.

“The next time you go around creatively with statistics, Mr Cele, we hope you think of the four-year-old girls Bokgabo Poo, Mia Botha and Chevonne Rusch, whose bereaved parents cannot process their deaths because the DNA backlog halts their murder investigations,” Cameron said.

– marizkac@citizen.co.za