Today, 7 February 2012, Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Gwen Ramokgopa accompanied the Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Mr Andries Nel and the Deputy Minister of Police, Ms Maggie Sotyu, to an oversight visit to the Johannesburg Forensic Services Laboratory of the Department of Health.
The visit was part of a series of visits that will be undertaken to consider the capacity and performance of the forensic laboratories of both health and police services because their functioning have an impact on the backlogs in the courts and the effectiveness and efficiency of the criminal justice system and the speed in which matters can be finalised.
The Johannesburg laboratory was chosen as the first laboratory to be visited because it has just completed a renovation process. It has not been functioning for the past three years, but will be functional soon, which is very good news for the criminal justice system and the public of Johannesburg.
The health forensic laboratories deal with matters such as blood alcohol results and toxicology analysis of persons who may have died of unnatural causes.
To speedily deal with both blood and toxicology analysis is crucial as they impact on the speed in which drunken driving cases and inquests could be finalised by the courts. The toxicology analysis also has an impact on the speed in which the estate of deceased persons can be finalised and impacts on matters such as insurance claims and civil claims. It is therefore of critical importance that any delay is kept to a minimum.
The deputy ministers were provided with information indicating a turn-around strategy by the Department of Health to deal with backlog analysis. This strategy includes new accommodation for the laboratory in Pretoria, an upgrade to the Cape Town laboratory and the establishment of a laboratory in KwaZulu-Natal. All the laboratories have had additional posts created and the few vacancies still there are in the process of being filled. Equipment has also been modernised and improved. This will ensure the analysts can deal with more samples at the same time.
The Johannesburg laboratory will soon be fully functional. They have an operational plan which includes working in teams to deal with cases. The focus will be on prioritising cases that are due in court. There will also be a prioritising of what analysis will be required for what cases in conjunction with the other CJS role players. The aim is that by September there should be no more backlogs in certain areas.
South African Police Service (SAPS) laboratories have a similar turn-around strategy in place and have made good inroads in reducing their backlogs.
The deputy ministers have committed themselves and their departments to work closer together and where possible share resources.
The visit will not be a once-off event but will be repeated after three months.
