Then came the shocking revelation by the Minister of Police in answer to one of my parliamentary questions. He admitted that forensic backlogs had increased by 322% since last year. Now, we had been assured that the massive backlogs from 2007 to 2010 were a thing of the past and yet they are back with a vengeance, having soared back to 10 247 entries.
As a result, the cases related to the outstanding DNA and drugs analyses cannot be finalised, cannot go to court, criminals remain on the street and justice for victims of crime is delayed. The DA believes that this massive database would give life to hundreds, if not thousands, of cold cases by matching DNA from the unsolved crime scenes to the DNA of known felons.
However, if we now factor in the planned passing of the DNA legislation today, which will see DNA samples taken from every correctional services inmate as well as newly arrested offenders in the country, the sad reality is that with this proof those backlogs are once again a reality. There is a very real fear that a backlog of monumental proportions will develop.
Although the DA has been one of the strongest supporters of this legislation as a crucial twenty-first century crime fighting tool, this revelation shows that this system may well fail through a lack of resources.
While this DNA Bill would finally allow us to catch up to the UK, which in 1987 became the first nation in the world to utilise DNA evidence - and that was to exonerate a man - and to most countries linked to Interpol, it would also allow for the swift identification of human remains. It is crucial for identification after, for example, fires or airplane crashes.
Families, such as those of Morgan Pillay of Tongaat, are unable to bury their loved one as they await DNA identification after a house fire; or as those of 76-year-old murder victim, Lorraine Shephard from Port Elizabeth, who are forced to wait in agony as the suspects walk the streets of Port Elizabeth seven months after the murder while the detectives await DNA results. They are held hostage by shoddy administration.
In addition, rape survivors are finally realising that their cases are not being investigated in any real manner and that their attackers may go undetected or even be let off scot-free, because of these SAPS bungles and machines that sit idle because tenders for consumables have not been called for.
While on the international study tour ANC, IFP and other members refused to have their DNA taken so as to allow them access to the inner sanctum of the laboratories, and the current chairperson of our committee did not join us on the Canadian leg of our tour as, I gather, she was refused a visa. However, they have, I believe, come to understand and accept the crucial necessity of such a database.
It was on those forays into the laboratories that I came to know and deeply respect Maj Gen Adeline Shezi, the powerhouse of a woman behind the criminal DNA database.
The public pays billions of rands for these forensic laboratories in the hope that criminals will be successfully apprehended and jailed. Whether the SAPS of today have the capacity to create and run the proposed DNA criminal database is still the question. With Maj Gen Adeline Shezi at the helm, I have to believe they will.
This is an excellent piece of legislation that will fall like an anvil on the heads of criminals. I was greatly saddened that the committee chose not to follow through on our wish to ensure that every SAPS member had their DNA taken, checked and stored.
This would automatically knock them off the suspect list if they were on a crime scene - and indeed, investigating officers have to give their DNA. However, considering the huge numbers of convicted criminals within the SAPS, and the claims that this is just the tip of the iceberg, I believe this provision should have been kept within the Bill and not self-exorcised because some on the committee fear the unions.
Why would any union head object to this minor change in their terms and conditions of employment? The SAPS members give their fingerprints after all - although we now find many of them are bogus and so they are currently all being retaken. No, I don't believe any of the unions would have presented a feasible argument against this. However, no SAPS DNA can, on passing of this Bill, be run through the criminal database to ensure that there are no criminals amongst the nearly 200 000 SAPS employees.
The procedure is quite simple really. If you have nothing to fear in terms of the law, there is no reason to fear undergoing this quick and painless procedure. Neither do I believe that the unions would have fought this, but now we'll never know, will we? Nor will we know if any of our SAPS members are as yet undetected rapists or murderers.
Finally, it is imperative that all SAPS members and the staff of the Department of Health are on board. I'm talking about their cavalier treatment of the bodies of murder victims. A family in Pinetown is today still reeling from the death of their daughter, Tamlyn Smith.
She was murdered in October last year, but firstly, the SAPS failed them by not securing the scene and not taking forensic samples or fingerprints. They told the family to clean up the bodily fluids while they stood laughing and joking.
Secondly, when Tamlyn's body was removed to a state morgue run by the Department of Health, her clothes were removed and have since disappeared, despite the fact that valuable forensic evidence may have been extracted from those garments. The staff there also treated the grieving family as a mere imposition.
To make matters worse, the family waited several months for the autopsy report, and when it finally arrived, no cause of death was specified. The report refers merely to the toxicology report which, according to the investigating officer, could take as much as five years to return from Pretoria.
Yes, the DA has concerns about the political meddling and the huge challenges in implementation, but the need for this legislation in respect of the entire criminal justice system far outweighs our concerns. [Applause.]