South Africa’s DNA and ballistics analysis laboratories will start 2026 with a hefty backlog in untested samples.
While labs can process hundreds of samples every day, the influx of samples due to the rate of crimes being investigated outstrips that number.
Additionally, millions have been spent on overtime hours, yet the staff complement at government facilities has declined in recent years.
Available resources
The scale of the backlog was recently listed by the Ministry of Police in a written response to a parliamentary question.
The ministry’s response given in December stated that the South African Police Service (Saps) has four regional labs: Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, the Western and the Eastern Cape.
These labs test DNA, ballistics, chemistry and biological samples.
However, toxicology analysis is done by the National Health Laboratory, which falls under the Department of Health, and those figures were excluded.
In the financial years since 2023, including 2026, R39.5 million had been allocated for overtime payments to address the backlog, as well as an additional R4.5 million spent on capital assets.
The number of laboratory technicians available to be deployed at the labs declined from 1 810 in 2021 to 1 694 at the end of September this year.
Forensics backlog
The forensic science laboratory received 227 094 new samples in the first six months — April to September — of the current financial year.
An additional 278 229 were carried over from the previous financial year, with a total of 210 635 exhibits being finalised by the lab by the end of September.
Of the 505 323 samples that required testing in the last 18 months, the labs were thus able to process 41% of those exhibits in a six-months period.
Ballistics exhibits totalled 92 057 new and carried over samples with 51 696 finalised between April and September.
New and carried over chemistry samples totalled 149 445, with 97 475 finalised in that time period mentioned.
“Some samples had “exceeded internal performance timeframes”, with that number sitting at 210 426 as of the end September.
“The biggest contributor to the high outstanding entries is intelligence case entries for biology, with a figure 177 023.
“The intelligence entries are not court-bound but necessary for processing and loading into the National Forensic DNA Database for investigative purposes,” the Ministry stated.
‘Not possible to determine’ completion date
Asked for a projected timeline on when the backlog would be addressed, the ministry said it was difficult to calculate.
“Taking into account the intensification of police operations, such as Operation Shanela II and changes in crime patterns which directly affect the increase of incoming exhibits on a yearly basis, it is not possible to determine the number of entries exceeding timelines in advance.”
Steps to speed up the backlog include a partnership with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research.
There is also a joint Saps and National Prosecuting Authority national technical inter-sectoral committee focused on court-bound cases.
Additionally, there is a national forensic pathology services committee focused on unidentified human remains, which meets on a quarterly basis.
“National and provincial efficiency enhancement committees chaired by the Chief Justice focus on court case flow and convene on a bi-annual basis,” the ministry concluded.
NOW READ: Alleged love triangle turns violent as man stabs friend with gardening fork
About the Author
