‘Cele chose to understate DNA backlog to save face’

AN UNEXPLAINED discrepancy shows that the police under-reported their DNA backlog and a crime buster claims the situation is worse than initially feared.

Police reported a backlog of 173 000 as of March 2021 to Parliament, but a PAIA application by Action Society SA has led to revelations that the backlog was at 241 000 in April 2021.

Action Society community safety director Ian Cameron referred to a police committee hearing where MPs were previously told that the DNA backlog stood at 173 000 in March 2021.

However, a Promotion of Access to Information Act by Action Society, seen by the Cape Argus, shows that the backlog stood at 241 152 in April 2021.

Cele told the Gender-Based Violence and Femicide Summit in late October that police had managed to reduce the backlog to 71 000, which Cameron called “misleading”.

“He uses smoke and mirrors to make it seem like the backlog is declining,” Cameron said.

He said Cele failed to mention that he was referring to “ring-fenced” cases, which excludes new cases not processed within 30 days after June 2021.

“If Cele had been leading with integrity, he would have explained that the backlog actually continues to grow because the National Forensic Service Laboratories (NFSL) cannot handle the influx of about 18 000 new entries per month, much less work down the ring-fenced cases.”

The Cape Argus tried to contact the minister, but Cele’s phone rang and went to voicemail, while his spokesperson Lirandzu Themba had not responded at the time of writing.

Cameron said the revelation also voids the PAIA response from the police in July 2022, which said there is no need for the appointment of private contractors to handle the backlog as the backlog was down.

Cele previously suggested to the police committee that the use of contractors was part of the solution to optimise laboratory capacity.

Cameron said: “For a government which continually claims to be fighting against gender-based violence, this ‘strategy’ seems to show an utter disrespect for victims of GBV.

“The GBV summit would have been the ideal stage to be honest about the DNA backlog and announce how the police department would use any available resources to solve the problem. But, instead, Cele chose to continue lying to save face.”

Cameron said the backlog affects the parents of 4-year-old girls Bokgabo Poo, Mia Botha and Chevonne Rusch, as they can’t register their deaths due to the backlog holding up their murder probes.

He said Cele was “stubborn” and needed help to break the DNA backlog.

Cameron said he instructed Action Society’s legal team to submit a PAIA application to clarify the state of the DNA backlog, including the ringfenced, newly backlogged and monthly entries, but he is yet to receive answers.

In the PAIA response, Forensic Science head Brigadier T Mulaudzi said the NFSL laboratory being built in Gqeberha was expected to be completed before the end of 2022/23.