The discovery of a 10th woman’s body in Ekurhuleni in roughly two months highlights the need for stronger forensic capacity to support gender-based violence and femicide investigations, said chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police Ian Cameron.

Police have yet to establish the identity of the latest victim, how she died or whether her death is connected to other cases involving women found dead across the metro.

Cameron said the latest discovery pointed to a broader crisis facing South Africa and called for national-level forensic resources to be prioritised as part of the response to gender-based violence and femicide.

The South African government declared gender-based violence and femicide a national disaster in 2020.

“My concern is not with the detectives working these cases. There are good investigators and forensic specialists on the ground who need our support. My concern is that for years we have neglected the systems behind them,” Cameron said.

He pointed to the capacity of the South African Police Service’s Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) units, saying there were only 176 units serving more than 1 100 police stations.

According to Cameron, the latest quarterly crime statistics recorded 6 596 reported rapes over a three-month period amounting to roughly 72 reported cases a day.

“DNA can link separate crimes to the same offender, identify repeat perpetrators and strengthen prosecutions,” he said.

DNA backlog sitting at 300 000

Cameron raised concerns about the backlog of DNA exhibits awaiting analysis, saying Parliament had been told that close to 300 000 exhibits were waiting to be processed.

He attributed the delays to challenges including the procurement of basic laboratory consumables, ageing equipment and problems with service contracts.

“This means potentially critical evidence can sit waiting while investigators are trying to determine whether violent crimes are connected,” Cameron said.

He argued that consistently maintaining and developing DNA processing capacity would put investigators in a stronger position to identify repeat offenders and establish links between serious crimes.

“If GBVF is genuinely a national disaster, then FCS and forensic capacity must form part of that disaster response,” he said.

Demanding parliamentary accountability

Cameron said he would ask SAPS management to account to Parliament for the current DNA backlog, laboratory throughput and turnaround times, outstanding forensic tenders and equipment service contracts.

He also called for clear deadlines for resolving the problems and monthly reporting until the backlog was under control.

Cameron said sexual offence kits, unidentified bodies and clusters of violent crimes should be prioritised.

“Ten women’s bodies in one metro in two months is profoundly abnormal,” he said.

“What should also be abnormal is expecting good detectives to fight a national disaster without national-level forensic capacity behind them.”

Police have not confirmed that the cases are linked or that a serial killer is responsible. Investigators have cautioned against drawing conclusions before evidence establishes connections between the cases.

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