The Western Cape SAPS Forensic Science Laboratory has shown over 10 000 backlog reduction

The Western Cape South African Police Services’ (SAPS) Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) has shown a reduction in the DNA backlog with over 10 000 backlogs down, making steady progress.

Back in August of this year the backlog stood at 25 290 however after the 23rd of November it has been reduced to 15 259. According the Minister Reagen Allen the results showed that FSL worked hard at their job. Last year in October the backlog stood at 89 158, meaning that the FSL has worked through 73 899 samples.

“As much as the progress is promising, the continued backlog remains deeply concerning. The FSL should have all the required resources, equipment and relevant material so that this backlog can be eradicated by the end of this year”, said Allen.

The reports comes not long after the Watching Briefs reported that 208 cases were struck off the court roll for the period 1 July 2022 and 30 September 2022 due to investigations being incomplete and various other reasons. Of these, 64 (30%) were gender-based violence (GBV) matters.