The Portfolio Committee of Police has underscored the need for an effective National Forensic Oversight and Ethics Board (DNA Board) to entrench the importance of DNA-driven prosecution, which is currently lacking.
This comes after the committee received representations from the DNA Board and the Office of the Directorate of Priority Crime Investigation (Known as Hawks) Judge on the 2023/24 annual report. The committee also received a presentation from the Civilian Secretariat for Police on the draft National Policing Policy on Wednesday.
Chairman of the committee, Ian Cameron said the committee is of the view that regaining public trust requires that all pillars within the justice, crime prevention, and security cluster are functional.
“It is a constant occurrence that cases are thrown out of court because of delays in DNA analysis. For example, the case of rape of a 15-year-old victim has been postponed three times since November 2023 in the Temba Magistrates Court. Or the case of Simbongile Mancotywa from Cofimvaba, who was murdered in May 2020, but her case was postponed countless times due to DNA analysis delays. These are just a few of the cases that highlight the need for the DNA Board to enhance monitoring to ensure that the South African Police Service (SAPS) Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) and the National Forensic DNA Database (NFDD) are functional,” Cameron said.
The committee said it was unfathomable that between November 2022 and February 2024, the DNA Board did not have a permanent chairperson.
It said this matter was raised by the 6th Parliament portfolio committee and while there were assurances that the functionality of the board was not adversely affected, the committee’s view is that a fully constituted board is necessary to effectively implement its mandate.
It further welcomed a fully constituted board and emphasised the importance of ensuring that the board is constituted by members with the requisite skills set to support the board’s mandate.
The committee also cautioned that the DNA Board to not merely accept reports from the FSL and NFDD but also ensure congruency between what is reported and the lived experiences on the ground.
“It is in this context that the committee raised concerns that cases finalised outside of the standard timeframes increased from 55,681 for the 2022/23 financial year to 74,142 in the 2023/24 financial year, an increase of 24.90%. A strengthened oversight mandate will ensure that such deficiencies are remedied timeously,” Cameron said.
The committee highlighted the importance of stronger monitoring of supply chain management systems, including stock management levels of consumables needed for DNA analysis. While the committee welcomed the assurance that all the procurement contracts were in place, the committee requested definitive assurance from the DNA Board that this was in place to prevent the challenge encountered previously.
“It remains a concern that the DNA Board did not undertake awareness campaigns in the 2023/2024 financial year. The lack of awareness of the board’s mandate negatively affects its effectiveness and the implementation of the mandate. It is unacceptable that budgetary constraints can be highlighted as a constraint because other effective measures can be implemented to circumvent financial constraints. Despite this, the committee has welcomed assurances that the SAPS and Civilian Secretariat of Police have undertaken to include in their awareness campaigns the mandate of the DNA Board,” Cameron said.
He said there was no need to intensify its oversight over the DNA Board and will schedule a meeting to look more closely at its effectiveness.
The committee said it’s also resolved on the need for legislative change to empower the board and strengthen its independence and capacity, as well as the need for measures to ensure consequence management flowing from the board’s observations.
It further welcomed the update on the Draft National Policing Strategy and proposals made in the policy directive.
“Implementing some of the proposals made during the consultation phase is necessary to achieve the goal of safe and secure communities. Some of the critical issues raised include certainty on the decentralisation and devolution of powers to ensure focused and tailor-made responses to unique crime trends, the increased utilisation of technology as a force multiplier in the fight against crime, the formation and training of specialised units to tackle different crimes and an integrated approach to fight gender-based violence and femicide,” Cameron said.
Cameron said while the committee acknowledged the good proposals made in the draft policy, it emphasised the need to set clear timelines to ensure accountability and ease of monitoring.
“It is high time that all the policy proposals have set timelines to ensure monitoring and analysis and to enable accountability for officials entrusted with the responsibility to implement. We cannot continue to have impressive documents that are not implemented on the ground, thus undermining the spirit of those policies,” Cameron said.
The committee was also of the view that the policy must consider revising the retirement age for police officers, as the service loses invaluable and experienced officers who have institutional memory and are knowledgeable about how to fight crime. In line with this, the committee welcomed the drive by the SAPS to reenlist retired police officers to shore up its capacity and capability to fight crime.
Regarding the Office of the DPCI Judge, the committee welcomed the appointment of retired Judge Francis Legodi to head the office since May 2024. It urged the Minister to plan effectively to ensure the office always has a judge in place, as gaps in appointments negatively impact the performance of the office’s mandate.
Cameron said there were also concerns about the lack of campaigns to make the office visible to the public, which negatively affects its ability to receive complaints and investigate them. “The office must find innovative solutions to rectify the general lack of awareness of its mandate. Utilisation of a plethora of social media platforms can get the office recognised at limited or no cost,” he said.