Gender-based violence DNA samples being prioritised, says SAPS
The South African Police Services has given an assurance that DNA samples required for court cases linked to gender-based violence are being prioritised.
The announcement by police comes after forensic exhibits in the National Forensic DNA Database due to the Property Control and Exhibit Management (PCEM) system “disappeared” after being shut down by the service provider in June 2020.
Since then, SAPS has worked together with the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) and developed the Forensic Exhibit Management (FEM) to replace the previous system run by the service provider.
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“The SAPS management will like to assure the nation that while the backlog in the Forensic Laboratories is being dealt with the urgency it deserves, DNA samples required for court cases especially related to Gender Based Violence cases as well as DNA samples needed for identification of persons for burials are being prioritized,” says police spokesperson Brigadier Vish Naidoo.
"The FEM system went live on the 6th of April 2021 and approximately 10 million samples from the Forensic Laboratory Admin System have been loaded into the FEM system where samples can be tracked and traced at the click of a button."
