Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola on Friday said the police ministry “made significant progress in reducing the DNA backlog“.
He shared the ministry’s action plan for ensuring a ‘Safer Festive Season’ during the holidays, saying the focus will be on six main areas.
Masemola said the backlog stands at 64 000 (as of 8 December 2022), which is a reduction of 55.02% since he assumed office in March 2022. "With this reduction, we are confident that more cases will be finalised. However, if offenders are not identified in time and the delay continues, the justice system fails victims who are unable to find closure." Masemola also called on the public to work with officials and report cases of gender-based violence (GBV) timeously.
Back in November at the GBVF Summit, Police Minister Bheki Cele dodged questions pertaining to the DNA backlog. At the time, Cele merely said the backlog of 241 000 was slashed by 71 000, adding that it should be entirely cleared by January 2023.
However, he failed to provide raw data to back up the claim. He also didn’t respond to Eusebius McKaiser’s request to explain in detail what Saps has done to eliminate GBV.
Read more here: https://www.citizen.co.za/news/dna-backlog-reduced-december-2022/