Crisis in Forensics: How SAPS Lab Failures Are Silencing GBV Survivors

A stark and unsettling picture has emerged from the SAPS Forensic Science Laboratory in Tshwane, where the Democratic Alliance (DA) uncovered a crisis that cuts to the heart of South Africa’s fight against gender-based violence. During an oversight visit, DA MPs Angel Khanyile and Lisa Schickerling found the lab crippled by a shocking backlog of over 30,000 GBVF cases awaiting processing. This number represents not just files, but thousands of women, children, and families waiting for justice. In cases like statutory rape, where DNA evidence is often the deciding factor, these delays are nothing short of devastating.

Despite SAPS operating on an enormous budget, the forensic division remains severely understaffed, with nearly 400 essential forensic professionals missing. Analysts, case processors, and technical experts are stretched impossibly thin, while regional labs lack the capacity needed to ease the burden. This means evidence that should be tested quickly and locally ends up funnelled into already overwhelmed central facilities, pushing turnaround times from weeks to months—and, for many survivors, from hope to heartbreak.

For victims of GBV, every delayed test result can mean a case struck off the court roll, an offender walking free, and a survivor left without closure. The DA has described the situation as “a disgraceful betrayal of victims,” highlighting how systemic collapse in forensic services is enabling perpetrators while silencing survivors.

Calling for urgent reform, the DA has demanded the decentralisation of forensic services, partnerships with accredited private labs to tackle the backlog, and the immediate establishment of a national GBV Council to enforce accountability. They argue that South Africa cannot wage a meaningful war against GBV while its forensic system—one of the most critical pillars of justice—remains broken.

Suppose this crisis is not addressed swiftly and decisively. In that case, the consequences will echo far beyond the lab walls, eroding public confidence and denying justice to thousands whose stories now sit trapped in untested evidence boxes.