Action Society welcomes CO Bill officially adopted by Portfolio Committee on Police
Tina Joemat-Pettersson, chairperson for the Portfolio Committee on Police, has just announced the adoption of the report on the Criminal Law (Forensic Procedures) Amendment Bill B25-2021 today without any amendments.
“We are extremely pleased with the progress made on this. Action Society cannot emphasise the urgency of getting this amendment finalised enough,” said Ian Cameron, Director of Community Safety at Action Society.
“The approval of this Amendment Bill is long overdue and has been neglected since 2019. The longer it takes for this amendment to get finalised, the more murderers and rapists get released without their DNA samples being taken.”
Almost 100 000 violent criminals have been released since 2016 without submitting a DNA sample.
“Taking DNA samples of all convicted schedule 8 offenders (rape, murder, human trafficking, robbery and culpable homicide) is not something that should be debated on at all. DNA speaks for itself and is one of the best crime-fighting tools that we have at our disposal,” emphasised Cameron.
The next step for this Amendment Bill to get finalised, is for it to be taken to the National Assembly.
