Dear Minister Bheki Cele,
Your office has correctly remained vocal against the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) in South Africa. We also note that the crime statistics of the first quarter of the 2022/2023 financial year show decreases in “total sexual offences such as rape, sexual assault, attempted sexual offences and contact sexual offences”. However, Amnesty International South Africa is concerned that GBVF remains high in the country and that murder and attempted murder of women registered 53,2% and 31,4% increases, respectively. The existing DNA backlog at the Forensic Science Laboratories is denying victims of GBVF access to justice.
In March this year, you told the country that the DNA backlog will be cleared within six months. You said during a briefing with the media that: “We had given ourselves 18 months to address the backlog; the staff has given us six months, they anticipate the backlog to be resolved”. Friday, the 30 September marked the end of six months and there has been no word from your office in relation to clearing the backlog.
We are also concerned about the lack of reliable data on the DNA backlog, which is compounding the problem. During this year’s State of the Nation Address, President Cyril Ramaphosa mentioned that “we have made significant progress in reducing the backlog in DNA processing, reducing it from 210,000 exhibits in April 2021 to around 58,000 at present.” During the SONA debate in February, you yourself also said the backlog had been reduced to under 60,000. But then in May, during an interview on national television you said that the backlog stands at 154,000. A member of the Portfolio Committee on Police recently cited police reports indicating that the DNA backlog stood at 150,131 in June and that the figure had risen to 180,381 in July.
The deadline has come and gone Minister and yet we have no clear indication of where the backlog stands. In light of this we demand that you inform the nation about the following:
- The overall DNA backlog figure
- The figure in relation to GBV-specific DNA backlog
- The estimated time to clear the backlog and;
- That you provide updates on the DNA backlog when reporting on quarterly crime statistics.
Minster, the gang rape and robbery of eight women in Krugersdorp, did not only shine a spotlight on the continuing problem of sexual offences and violence against women in the country, but was also a gruesome reminder of the fact that we need to get rid of the backlog. Perpetrators need to fear being caught and brought to book, however, the DNA backlog is not helping in doing this. There is no real deterent to commiting sexual offences and crimes of violence against women and perpetrators continue to act with impunity.
You previously stated that the “backlog…has given us sleepless nights. But as the police we didn’t just toss and turn in our beds from the sleepless nights. We sprung into action, rolled up our sleeves and put our heads together. We knew it was a race against time, to urgently find a way out of a nightmare, holding the criminal justice system at ransom”.
Contrary to the above statement, it does not look like the matter is being handled with the urgency it deserves and the inconsistent and unreliable data shows a lack of commitment.
We call on you Minister to stop paying lip service to the matter and deliver on your promises. We urgently need to ensure that the victims of GBVF and their families get justice.
The government and police continue to fail people, especially women and children, in the country who continue to face horrendous crimes against them, with little to no action from the country’s duty bearers. The State has an obligation to protect people’s rights to life and security and we are not seeing this obligation realised.
We are not seeing real change fast enough, especially around the broken elements of the justice system like the DNA backlog.
We can no longer accept excuses for the high crime rate and high rate of GBVF, and broken promises. We demand action, accountability, and transparency. We hear the same dismay expressed and lip service repeated every time the crime stats are released.
We say enough is enough!
Sincerely,
Amnesty International South Africa
For more information or to request an interview, please contact:
Genevieve Quintal, Media and Communications Officer, Amnesty International South Africa: +27 (0)64 890 9224; genevieve.quintal@amnesty.org.za
Public Document
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Amnesty International South Africa office, 97 Oxford Road, Saxonwold, Johannesburg, 2196
