Chairperson, the members of the Portfolio Committee on Justice have kept a watchful eye on this Bill that was handled so well by the Portfolio Committee on Police.
The ACDP welcomes and supports the finalisation of a Bill that is long overdue in its making. As we know, the Bill amends the current Criminal Procedure Act, which requires that a court order be granted before a DNA sample is obtained. With this amendment, an arrested or charged person will not be able to refuse to allow a DNA sample to be taken from them. Therefore the requirement of a court order falls away. Given the exceptionally high crime rate in South Africa, and as has been pointed out by various other speakers, this move is to be welcomed since it is long overdue. The legislation that allows for the SAPS system to be linked to the fingerprint database of the Department of Home Affairs and the thumb system of the Department of Transport should enable the police not only to be effective in solving past, present and future crimes, but also to increase their ability to link perpetrators to multiple crime scenes.
It is quite shocking that it has taken such a long time for this Bill to be finalised and to get to this stage, given that DNA evidence has been in the domain for so many years.
It is extraordinary from a legal perspective that the Bill will operate retrospectively. However, as the ACDP, we believe that it is necessary that it operates like that in the fight against crime. No doubt, some people will contest this from a constitutional perspective, but we do believe that it is necessary to build up the DNA database of those who have already been imprisoned and convicted for serious offences.
We are also aware that the Human Rights Commission argued that the mandatory taking of fingerprints and DNA samples must be balanced against the right of privacy and that this was largely part of the debate against this Bill that is now being dealt with.
We see that the Bill provides for a national forensic oversight board, which will monitor compliance with regard to issues of ethics and privacy, and that the Human Rights Commission will also form part of that board, participate in its proceedings and provide input in the oversight body. We believe that this is a vital check and balance and will help increase the Bill's effectiveness.
We also understand that there were a lot of concerns about the cost of implementation and welcome it that the quarterly monitoring of the implementation costs will be done by the Portfolio Committee on Police. Clearly, effective implementation is critical for the success of this Bill as an effective tool in the fight against crime.
In conclusion, the ACDP wishes to echo the words of one submission that was made, stating that:
If passed, this Bill would revolutionise crime scenes investigation in South Africa in line with best international practice and increase the number of convictions.
We, as the ACDP, commend the ANC, the DA and the other parties that participated in the deliberations on this Bill. Well done, hon Minister, for bringing a very positive Bill to this House.