Cape Times E-dition

New DNA law should apply to convicted criminals too – activists

CHEVON BOOYSEN chevon.booysen@inl.co.za

WHILE the proclamation of legislation to enforce compulsory DNA sampling of alleged offenders takes effect at the end of this month, activists have said the same should apply to convicted criminals.

This comes after the implementation of Section 36D of the Criminal Law (Forensics Procedures Act), which will enforce compulsory DNA sampling of alleged offenders arrested on any schedule 8 offence, which was not mandatory in the past.

From February 1, a suspect arrested and charged with a schedule 8 offence – which includes rape and murder – will be required to provide a DNA sample which will be uploaded on to the National Forensics DNA Database.

Regional director of DNA for Africa, Vanessa Lynch, said the government needed to also pass legislation which made it mandatory to sample convicted offenders.

“All aspects of working towards a fully functional Forensic Sciences Laboratory (FSL) are crucial.

“It shows commitment by the government to continue to fund and capacitate the FSL to ensure they can cope with capacity.

“They are also looking at privatepublic partnerships to assist with capacity as well as building a new lab in the Eastern Cape.

“The funding has been given to FSL to fulfill all outstanding contracts which impeded the labs’ ability to function.

“This caused the backlog to build up. Now they are working through their backlog quite substantially and have pinned November 1, 2022, as the date for zero backlog.

“Again, all positive moves by the government to address this issue.

“We must continue to mount pressure on the government to stick to this commitment,” said Lynch.

Human rights activist, Zona Morton, said the date to have the proclamation implemented was “fair” as it had been advocated for years.

“The question now is what will the justice system do with the DNA samples and ensure that there is fair sentencing.

“The police ministry and judiciary have to get on to the same page to ensure there is fair sentencing when it comes to DNA and its sampling.

“Currently there is a lot of pressure to have the backlog cleared but we don’t know how much has been added to the system in the meantime, especially during the pandemic,” said Morton.

The proclamation follows the SAPS last year confirming that they were creaking under a backlog of 208 291 cases nationally during March, while an additional budget of R250 million had been allocated to reduce the numbers and expedite sampling.

At the time, Gauteng had recorded the largest backlog of 115%, with the Western Cape slightly behind with a backlog of 113%.

Police spokesperson Mathapelo Peters said they would not be commenting on the matter at this time.

“Due to certain protocols, we are at this stage not at liberty to give comment on this matter. A statement will be released hopefully not in the too distant future,” Peters said.

Civil rights organisation, Action Society, welcomed the implementation the act.

Spokesperson, Elanie van der Walt, said: “DNA remains the most effective crime fighting tool. The sampling of schedule 8 arrestees will make a huge impact in solving cold cases, identifying repeat offenders and assisting in successful prosecutions of rapists and murderers. Action Society would like to thank our members and the public for their support in our plea to get Section 36D promulgated.”

The organisation actively pursued the implementation of the act and sent a letter of demand to the Minister of Police and the President in August 2021, requesting their urgent attention to the matter, which has been lingering since 2015.

METRO

en-za

2022-01-19T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-01-19T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://capetimes.pressreader.com/article/281573769065537

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