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The Police Ministry says there is a huge backlog in DNA testing at the Police Forensic Science Laboratories, which causes delays in the burial of some crime victims.
The Police Minister’s spokesperson, Lirandzu Themba, says the backlog is due to various factors, including budgetary constraints.
The Gumbo family in Seshego and Mothiba family at Ga-Chuene in Limpopo say they are facing secondary trauma, as they have been waiting for months for the remains of their loved ones.
The Mogashoa family in Burgersfort, also in Limpopo, say they have been waiting for over a year, for DNA results of their daughter.
Themba explains some of the causes of the delay.
“It’s a combination of budgetary allocations, contract management as well as shortage of DNA consumables which are very critical with regards to having the outputs of DNA sampling in our forensic laboratories. That’s essentially the reasons behind the DNA backlog and these causative factors that I’ve mentioned, date back several years within the SAPS forensic environment, that we believe has and is holding back the criminal justice system.”
[GRAPHIC WARNING] DNA Test backlogs | Delays in DNA testing deny victims justice:
