Police Minister, Bheki Cele, says the private sector has been roped in to help deal with the DNA- evidence sample backlog at the National Forensic Science Laboratory.
Cele says R 250 million has been set aside to fast-track the backlog.
He says the delay was caused by supply chain management challenges and corruption.
“There are samples that we have taken to work with the private laboratories. We are trying to push. One other thing – our two laboratories are not functioning fully. That is KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape and Gqeberha. We are giving 18 months that the backlog would have been finalised and will be dealing with matters on day to day basis,” says Cele.
Speaking on Morning, Cele apologised to victims for the pains and anguish these delays have caused:
Wise 4 Afrika on government’s promise to build a lab
The director of women’s empower organisation, Wise 4 Afrika, Advocate Brenda Madumise, says government was supposed to build another lab in 2020.
She says government has been saying it will reduce the backlog since October 2019.
Below is the full interview with Madumise:
Earlier in the week, Cele apologised to all gender-based violence (GBV) victims for the delays in the processing of DNA samples at forensic laboratories.
Cele was speaking in Parliament during a debate on the backlog of DNA samples at forensic laboratories.
