SAPS ballistics section head Brig Mishak Mkhabela, stationed at the Forensic Science Laboratory in Silverton, Pretoria, told the Madlanga commission on Monday the section is struggling with severe backlogs and staff shortages.
Mkhabela said the section is unable to process the number of firearms linked to crimes in the country. He has more than 29,000 firearms in storage, each linked to a criminal case, with only 42 analysts to handle the workload.
Storage facilities are full, and they have had to repurpose a museum to keep excess exhibits.
“When I started at ballistics, we had one safe. Now we have to repurpose a museum to make it a safe. It’s now full.”
Mkhabela said the backlog is causing delays in court cases, and courts have started issuing inquiries under section 342A of the Criminal Procedure Act to explain the delays.
He said a former commander of the ballistics unit had been arrested for contempt of court after failing to attend such an inquiry.
“That is what we’re facing daily. Instead of me preparing the cases, I must travel to court and explain why the case is delayed,” he said.
According to Mkhabela, about 70% of the cases completed each month are urgent requests from courts.
Figures he presented to the commission showed that more than 108,000 cases are awaiting review on the automated ballistic identification system. Pretoria has 38,000 unprocessed cases, KwaZulu-Natal 35,000, the Western Cape has 21,000 and the Eastern Cape more than 15,000.
The large backlog in KwaZulu-Natal is due to high levels of firearm-related crime and low staffing levels. The province’s ballistics unit is operating at half its required capacity.
He said the unit faces challenges in recruitment due to administrative delays and red tape. Eight analyst posts were advertised recently, but only one appointment was made after the process was stopped due to queries about the advertisement. Mkhabela said most of the vacant posts are existing positions that have not been filled.
To retain skilled staff, the police have implemented a scarce skills allowance for forensic analysts, but this only partly addressed the problem.
Ballistics work requires extensive in-service training. Analysts progress through 12 levels before being fully qualified. Junior analysts handle simpler cases, while experienced analysts work on more complex firearm examinations.
Mkhabela said analysts are also often required to testify in court, which takes them away from their laboratory work for several days at a time.
Firearms and ammunition evidence in murder investigations undergoes multiple verification stages, from laboratory analysis to independent review, before results are uploaded to police systems that automatically alert investigators to case linkages.
TimesLIVE
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