In a country already battered by crime and a waning faith in law enforcement, the revelation that South Africa’s DNA backlog has once again surpassed 140 000 cases is not just a failure of administration—it is a full-scale crisis of justice. It is a betrayal of victims, a gift to criminals, and yet another glaring testament to the state’s inability to fulfill its most basic duty: keeping its citizens safe.
For years, the South African Police Service (SAPS) has insisted that the backlog in forensic DNA testing was under control. Assurances have been made, budgets have been “reprioritised,” and yet here we stand, back where we started—or worse. The sheer scale of this catastrophe means that thousands of cases are being thrown out of court due to insufficient forensic evidence, emboldening perpetrators and leaving victims in limbo. The message to violent criminals is clear: the state is asleep at the wheel.
How did we get here? Why has SAPS, despite repeated interventions and increased funding, failed to address what should be a solvable issue? And perhaps most importantly, why is the government refusing to embrace solutions—such as public-private partnerships—that could clear this backlog and restore some semblance of justice?
These are not just bureaucratic failures. They are moral failures. And until there is accountability, until heads roll and reforms are enacted, South Africa will remain a country where justice is not just delayed—it is actively denied.
The DNA Backlog
The DNA backlog is not a new problem. It is a chronic one.
In 2021, SAPS faced its worst-ever crisis in forensic case processing, with a backlog exceeding 300 000 cases at its peak. The root causes? A perfect storm of incompetence: expired contracts for critical forensic equipment, understaffing, underfunding, and a failure to modernise forensic services. After a national outcry, the government scrambled to intervene, throwing money at the problem and promising reforms. The numbers started improving, leading to official declarations that the backlog was “under control.”
Except it wasn’t.
Despite all the posturing and self-congratulation, the backlog has now resurged to 140 000 cases, proving that whatever fixes were put in place were either superficial or temporary. The SAPS Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) has once again ground to a near halt, with forensic evidence piling up while victims of rape, murder, and violent crime wait endlessly for justice.
One of the most disturbing aspects of this crisis is its profound impact on prosecutions. The failure to process DNA evidence on time means cases are being thrown out of court, simply because the necessary forensic reports are not available. The criminal justice system is now actively facilitating impunity, allowing dangerous offenders to walk free—not because they are innocent, but because the state is too dysfunctional to prove their guilt.
This is not just inefficiency. It is dereliction of duty on a national scale.
The Human Toll
Beneath the statistics lies a deeper tragedy: the thousands of South Africans who are left waiting for closure that may never come.
Take the case of Andiswa Mdakana, a mother from Willowvale whose 14-year-old daughter, Sisipho, went missing in 2020. A month later, a head and limbs, believed to be her child’s, were discovered. They were unrecognisable. DNA tests were ordered. Four years later, Mdakana is still waiting for confirmation.
“All I need is the head and limbs to bury so I can find comfort,” she says.
Four years of waiting. Four years of not knowing.
Then there are the countless survivors of rape and gender-based violence who will never see their attackers convicted, simply because the DNA evidence that could have proven their cases is stuck in bureaucratic purgatory. For these women, the message is devastatingly clear: the system does not care. Their suffering is an afterthought in a state that has lost the ability to deliver even the most fundamental justice.
The Case for Public-Private Partnerships
Perhaps the most infuriating aspect of this crisis is that solutions exist—yet SAPS stubbornly refuses to embrace them. Forensic DNA testing is not some esoteric, impossibly complex process. Private forensic laboratories and universities across South Africa have the capability and expertise to assist in clearing this backlog within months.
In a proactive effort to resolve the crisis, Action Society’s legal team drafted a cooperation agreement on behalf of SAPS, facilitating a partnership between the police service and a university forensic laboratory equipped to process DNA samples in full compliance with SAPS standards. This agreement, if implemented, could significantly reduce the backlog, ensuring that critical forensic evidence is processed efficiently and that justice is not indefinitely stalled. Yet, despite the urgency of the situation and the feasibility of the solution, SAPS has failed to ever respond.
SAPS has consistently resisted calls for public-private partnerships, choosing instead to wallow in its own inefficiencies. Why?
Some will argue it’s about control—that SAPS is reluctant to relinquish oversight of forensic evidence to private entities. Others suggest it’s a matter of budget priorities—that the government would rather sink billions into failing state-owned enterprises than fund solutions that actually matter.
But the real answer may be even more insidious: outsourcing DNA testing would expose just how deep the dysfunction within SAPS runs. If private labs could clear the backlog in months while the state has failed for years, what would that say about SAPS leadership? About the politicians overseeing them?
The refusal to embrace external capacity assistance is not just incompetence—it is self-preservation at the expense of justice.
Political Accountability: Who Pays the Price?
In a functioning democracy, heads would have rolled by now.
In 2021, then-Police Minister Bheki Cele stood before the nation and promised that the DNA backlog crisis was being addressed. He was lying. He knew it then, and we know it now. The backlog has ballooned once again, and yet the individuals responsible continue to collect their paychecks.
Where is the accountability? Where is the parliamentary oversight?
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police, Ian Cameron, has called the situation “a clear case of dereliction of duty” and is pushing for a forensic audit. But an audit, while necessary, is only the beginning. There must be real consequences for those responsible.
- Why has SAPS failed to renew critical forensic contracts on time?
- Why has Parliament accepted repeated false assurances that the backlog was improving?
- Who in government is benefitting from the dysfunction?
Until these questions are answered, and until those responsible are held criminally accountable, this cycle of failure will continue.
Reform or Collapse
South Africa’s DNA backlog is a damning indictment of a system that has chosen bureaucracy over efficiency, political loyalty over competence, and impunity over accountability.
The stakes could not be higher.
If SAPS is serious about resolving this crisis, it must immediately enter into partnerships with private forensic laboratories to clear the backlog, allowing cases to move through the justice system without further delay. It must also hold accountable those responsible for past failures, ensuring that forensic mismanagement, contract negligence, and repeated broken promises do not go unpunished. Beyond short-term fixes, SAPS must commit to long-term forensic reform by securing proper budgeting, modernising facilities, and implementing proactive oversight measures to prevent this catastrophe from recurring. Anything less would be a continuation of the same dysfunction that has already robbed countless victims of justice.
If this crisis persists, it will not only erode trust in the justice system but also quietly condemn countless victims to a silence they never deserved.
