DNA unit facing 'huge' backlog

2004-12-08 06:08

Philip de Bruin

Johannesburg - The police's forensic unit is facing "a serious crisis" with a backlog of thousands of DNA tests - crucial evidence in criminal cases - which have been amassing for the past year.

The situation has become so serious that state prosecutors "take a gamble in trying to complete criminal cases without the DNA tests while hoping and praying for a guilty verdict".

It is claimed the police policy to almost never promote white officers any longer is at the heart of the problem. The result is that "experienced, trained and knowledgeable DNA analysts" leave the unit.

Inspector François Bekker, the unit's media spokesperson, said on Tuesday that of about 50 000 requests from prosecutors countrywide for DNA analyses received in 2003, about 7 000 have been outstanding for longer than seven months.

50 000 samples in 2004

"A really large number, probably in the thousands, of these tests have now been outstanding for almost a year," he said.

These thousands of outstanding tests don't include this year's tests. According to Bekker, more than 50 000 samples were received during 2004.

Despite this, he says, the unit believes "the situation is under control and that no crisis is being experienced".

But Johannesburg chief magistrate Gert Jonker said the concern among magistrates about the outstanding DNA tests was so rife that he had called a meeting about it with senior police officers.

"It's a huge problem," he said on Tuesday.

Pieter Erasmus, Randburg's senior state prosecutor, said "informal conversations" already had been held with the unit to try to find solutions.

"It seems the unit has an incredible workload with which it just cannot cope.

"We sometimes engage in a small gamble to complete criminal cases without the DNA analyses. We have been lucky so far and had enough other evidence."

Matric Luphondo, a senior prosecutor from Pretoria, was not available for comment on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the prosecutors says backlogs at this court are similar to other places.

"We sometimes wait up to 18 months for analyses. Here we also sometimes have to gamble with criminal cases and complete hearings without crucial DNA evidence."

Police sources confirmed that "about 10 highly experienced members of the unit" resigned during the past year.

'No hopes of getting promoted'

Among them was the unit's commander, assistant-commander Keith Morris.

He and others who resigned are working in the United States.

The police source said: "The guys are just not prepared to stay any longer because they have no hopes of getting promoted. The forensic unit is a boiling pot waiting to explode."

A senior member of the unit asked: "The national prosecuting authority is placing increased pressure on us to complete DNA tests, but how on earth will we beat this backlog?"

- Beeld