Advocacy group, Lifeline, says South Africa’s DNA backlog is crippling the justice system’s ability to successfully prosecute perpetrators of rape.
On Wednesday, Police Minister Bheki Cele revealed in the quarterly crime statistics that over 10 000 rape cases were opened with police, between July and September this year.
Cele says DNA backlogs have been reduced to 71 000 from just over 240 000.
Cele says the DNA backlog will be cleared by January 2023
However, Lifeline’s director of advocacy, Sinikiwe Biyela, says the figures are not a true reflection of the challenges women and children face.
“The DNA backlog is a huge challenge in obtaining successful prosecution and it is actually a blockage for the survivors to get the justice that they deserve with the clients that we work with. We have clients that have waited for three to four years just to get the DNA results back for them.”
Below is Sinikiwe Biyela’s full interview on Lotus Fm’s Newsbreak programme:
DNA backlog denying GBVF victims’ access to justice: Lisa Vetten
