While allegations of forensic bungling in the Brett Kebble and Constable Frances Rasuge cases have made headlines in recent weeks, the reality is that the criminal justice system is ill-equipped to handle forensic evidence, particularly in sexual offence cases.
South Africa has arguably the world’s highest incidence of violence against women, yet there is an abysmal 7% conviction rate in cases of rape. Earlier this year at the sixth annual South African Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (Sapsac), conference, Dario Doso, a Soweto magistrate in the specialised rape court, said that in the three years he had presided at the court, DNA results had been available in time for the court case on just five occasions.
At the conference, Retha Meintjies, the Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, confirmed that DNA samples sent to police forensic laboratories almost never arrived back in time for court hearings.
There are only two South African Police Service (SAPS) Forensic Science Laboratories (FSL) nationwide that process DNA evidence collected during the investigation of criminal offences.
According to Democratic Alliance MP Roy Jankielsohn, there are 700 vacancies in the SAPS FSL, with specialists bearing an incredibly high caseload. The average caseload is more than 300 per year, compared with the approximately 130 cases processed by their counterparts in England. This problem aggravates the estimated backlog of more than 15000 cases reported three years ago.
In addition to the inability of forensic laboratories to handle their caseload in a timely manner, the validity and reliability of the results are quesionable. Successful court challenges to the validity and admissibility of forensic reports have diminished the effectiveness of vital physical evidence.
In many rape cases these forensic reports are indispensible if a conviction is to be obtained and are essential in order to avoid the unnecessary testimony of child victims. Some of the problems with the reports have been attributed to unqualified and under-experienced employees.
The situation is further exacerbated by the lack of information and training for those required to collect forensic evidence in sexual assault cases, using the Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kit, which is provided by the SAPS to medical practitioners.
Of the 5,3-million South Africans infected with HIV/Aids, women and young girls bear the highest infection rate, with many being exposed to the virus as a result of sexual assault.
Many victims of sexual violence report being interrogated by police and medical practitioners about their personal background, lifestyle and prior relationships in order to downplay their claim of sexual assault and to diminish the seriousness of the crimes committed against them.
And in the rare event of a conviction for rape, mandatory sentences are often not imposed. This continuing reduction of sentences has, in turn, failed to deter other offenders and failed to bring justice to victims. In general, it is serial offenders who have a history of repeated violent offences against women who receive the prescribed mandatory life sentence.
There is an overwhelming need immediately to fill the vacancies within the forensic laboratories and to establish further laboratories throughout the country to provide credible reports to court in time for trial.
It is time for decisive action to prevent aggressors being set free to rape again and again. It is time to show women that rape cases need not be dismissed because of ineptitude, and to allow them to live without fear.
Tizeta Wodajo and Christina Jensen are members of Lawyers for Human Rights, Johannesburg