PROJECT: CRISIS AT THE SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE'S FORENSIC SCIENCE LABORATORY
- Isabel Spies
- Dec 4
- 9 min read
Updated: Dec 8
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South Africa is currently facing a severe crisis within the South African Police Service’s (SAPS) Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), a collapse that threatens the integrity of the entire criminal justice system. With the country battling alarmingly high rates of violent crime — including a murder rate exceeding 45.3 per 100,000, among the world’s highest — the failure of forensic services has become a national emergency.
The Forensic Science Laboratory, central to solving murders, rapes, shootings, robberies, and drug-related crimes,
has become overwhelmed by unprecedented backlogs, infrastructure decay, critical staff shortages,
poor resource management, and systemic misgovernance.
Mr. Mike Bolhuis, founder of Specialised Security Services (SSS), is a nationally respected specialist in serious, violent, and organised crime.
As a leading consultant who has collaborated with SAPS, intelligence structures, and private-sector experts for decades, he is widely recognised for his insight into policing failures and forensic shortcomings in South Africa.
Interviewed on the crisis engulfing the SAPS Forensic Science Laboratory, Mr. Bolhuis emphasised the catastrophic implications of the laboratory’s collapse, the long-term consequences for victims, and the urgent need for professional, transparent, and accountable reform.
1. A SYSTEM PARALYSED BY BACKLOGS:
In March 2025, Parliament reported a national DNA backlog exceeding 140,000 cases.
At the Cape Town FSL alone, over 28,000 DNA samples accumulated in just 11 months.
The reality is bleak: analysts can process roughly 2,000 cases per month, yet new submissions are equal or higher, ensuring the backlog is never cleared.
The Ballistics Section is equally overwhelmed.
During testimony at the Madlanga Commission, Brigadier Mishak Mkhabela confirmed a backlog of over 41,000 ballistic cases, with only 33 analysts instead of the required 66.
Pretoria’s laboratory has only 16 analysts, though ≈30 are needed to function effectively.
2. BUDGET SHORTAGES AND THE HIGH COST OF FORENSIC SERVICES:
The Forensic Science Laboratory is one of the most expensive components of the SAPS environment due to its specialised scientific nature.
Yet, the budget allocated is grossly inadequate, resulting in:
PROCUREMENT FAILURES AND EQUIPMENT SHORTAGES:
Critical forensic equipment is extremely costly: certain microscopes cost up to R5 million each, needing replacement every 10 years to keep pace with technology.
Across the laboratories, multiple pieces of outdated equipment, no longer supported by manufacturers, are still being used daily.
New equipment is procured selectively, while old, obsolete units remain in service, especially in Chemistry, Scientific Analysis, and Ballistics.
Experts estimate that over R50 million is required simply to replace old equipment currently in use.
MAINTENANCE, CALIBRATION AND COMPLIANCE FAILURES:
Insufficient funds prevent compliance with mandatory service, maintenance, and calibration schedules.
The laboratories are not accredited calibration facilities, and staff are not trained calibration specialists, leaving equipment vulnerable to inaccuracy or failure.
This undermines the scientific validity of forensic results in court.
INADEQUATE CJS AND ICJS FUNDING:
Criminal Justice System (CJS) funding, intended to support equipment acquisition, is limited and insufficient.
These funds are meant to supplement — not replace — the laboratory’s core budget, yet SAPS leadership relies heavily on them due to poor planning and underfunding.
3. SEVERE PERSONNEL SHORTAGES, TURNOVER AND SKILLS LOSS:
ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL SHORTAGES:
The Forensic Science Laboratory faces critical shortages of administrative personnel, particularly in procurement and resource management.
As a result, expert forensic personnel are often required to assist with procurement processes, tenders, and bids, diverting them from their core investigative duties.
Analysts are forced to perform procurement tasks, tender administration, and resource tracking — duties far outside their expertise.
NO TYPISTS, ANALYSTS TYPING THEIR OWN REPORTS:
There are no dedicated typists, forcing analysts to prepare their own reports, which increases the risk of errors, slows case processing, and reduces time available for examinations.
In some instances, experts must type three to four reports per day in addition to their normal caseloads, often without formal training in software applications.
There are critical shortages of administrative staff, particularly in procurement and resource management.
This wastes valuable time and increases the risk of errors in legal documents.
TRAINING COLLAPSE AND SKILLS EROSION:
Laboratory training is no longer internally managed; SAPS centralises training across the whole organisation, leaving forensic experts without the necessary upskilling.
SAPS centralises all soft-skills and software training across the service, leaving the Laboratory unable to manage or authorise training specific to its needs.
Engineers and technical staff are not continuously trained in line with Engineering Council requirements, and personnel rarely attend international training conferences, further limiting skill development.
High staff turnover compounds these challenges.
Many sections are losing personnel to external employment or internal SAPS posts, preventing analysts from gaining the specialist experience required for high-level examinations.
Because forensic fields are highly specialised and not offered at tertiary institutions, replacing trained personnel is a slow process.
Laboratory-based training programs take up to three years to produce fully competent analysts, meaning losses due to turnover or retirement have long-lasting impacts on the Laboratory’s operational capacity
High turnover leads to constant loss of skilled personnel to external jobs and internal SAPS posts.
Senior experts retire without adequate skills transfer, leaving very few individuals capable of handling high-level or serious cases.
CAREERS:
There is currently no structured career path for personnel within the Forensic Science Laboratory.
Laboratory staff are treated in the same category as general SAPS personnel, despite the highly specialised scientific expertise their work requires.
Appointments are made solely based on the minimum qualifications needed for the post, with no long-term professional development framework in place.
Remuneration for analysts is aligned to standard SAPS salary levels, even though these specialists are highly qualified, technically trained, and responsible for critical forensic outputs.
Although proposals to revise and improve these remuneration structures have been considered, none have yet been implemented.
The Laboratory is also experiencing a significant loss of institutional knowledge.
Senior experts retire without adequate skills transfer to younger analysts, while high staff turnover further accelerates the loss of experience.
As a result, very few senior specialists remain who are capable of handling complex, high-level, or serious forensic cases, severely compromising the Laboratory’s ability to meet its mandate.
4. EQUIPMENT, VEHICLES AND RESOURCE FAILURES:
VEHICLES:
There are insufficient vehicles available for the personnel within the Forensic Science Laboratory, with procurement based on limited allocated budgets rather than actual operational needs.
The existing fleet is in a deteriorated condition, and once service plans expire, all maintenance must be paid from the already strained budget.
These funds are wholly inadequate to cover essential items such as tyres, routine services and necessary repairs.
In addition, procurement approvals are significantly delayed due to a critical shortage of administrative personnel responsible for processing and managing these requests.
RESOURCES AND PROCUREMENT BOTTLENECKS:
The Laboratory continues to face severe resource constraints, largely due to restricted budgets and complex, slow procurement processes.
Procurement time frames are unnecessarily lengthy, worsened by a shortage of administrative personnel capable of managing and expediting these procedures.
Another major challenge is the limited availability of specialised suppliers.
Many forensic analysis processes rely on highly specialised equipment and consumables that can only be sourced from single or sole international suppliers.
These items are typically imported directly under exclusive manufacturer agreements, leaving no possibility for supplier rotation or competitive sourcing.
Current procurement regulations — particularly those requiring multiple bids and supplier rotation — are incompatible with the specialised nature of forensic resources.
As a result, essential equipment and consumables are often delayed or unobtainable, further crippling the Laboratory’s capacity to perform timely and accurate examinations.
5. FACILITIES - OVERCROWDED, UNSAFE AND OUTDATED:
The Silverton Laboratory, designed to hold 300 personnel, currently houses over 700, resulting in severe overcrowding.
Additional facility failures include:
Delayed upgrades and expansion plans have been pending for many years.
A lack of air-conditioning, heating, proper kitchens, or dedicated break areas.
In some sections, staff eat in the same spaces where examinations are performed — a serious violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Evidence storage is so limited that a museum had to be converted to store more than 29,000 firearms linked to murder and robbery cases.
New regional laboratories, intended to decentralise forensic services and reduce examination times, remain delayed indefinitely.
6. SYSTEMIC MISMANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP FAILURES:
Oversight committees have repeatedly criticised SAPS for:
Failing to implement remedial recommendations.
Mismanaging contracts and procurement.
Inadequate leadership oversight.
Poor accountability and transparency.
In March 2025, Ian Cameron, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police, requested the Auditor-General to conduct a full forensic audit of DNA processing systems, contract management, and procurement failures.
7. IMPACT ON JUSTICE AND PUBLIC SAFETY:
The consequences of the forensic collapse are devastating:
DELAYED AND ABANDONED PROSECUTIONS:
Thousands of cases cannot proceed due to unavailable forensic evidence.
INCREASED IMPUNITY:
Violent criminals avoid arrest or conviction.
COMPROMISED EVIDENCE INTEGRITY:
Poor storage, contamination, or obsolete equipment weakens cases.
EROSION OF PUBLIC TRUST:
Victims lose faith in the police and justice system.
The crisis directly affects major crime categories, including murder, rape, firearm violence,
gender-based violence, and drug-related cases.
8. SAPS RESPONSE AND PROPOSED ACTION PLANS:
SAPS has outlined several interventions:
A Forensic Services Action Plan aimed at reducing backlogs.
Higher forensic reporting targets in the 2025/26 Annual Performance Plan.
Termination of reliance on the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) — announced in October 2025 — to regain control over forensic IT processes.
However, repeated failures in implementing previous action plans have damaged credibility.
Experts, including Mr. Mike Bolhuis of Specialised Security Services (SSS), stress that restoring the integrity of South Africa’s forensic system requires more than new plans — it demands decisive leadership, transparent procurement, and rigorous accountability.
Without this, SAPS will continue to fail victims of violent crime and erode public trust in the justice system.
A national forensic turnaround strategy, combining independent oversight, modernised infrastructure, and specialised recruitment, is essential if South Africa is to restore credibility to its investigative and judicial processes.
The collapse of the SAPS Forensic Science Laboratory represents one of the most significant threats to the criminal justice system in democratic South Africa. Chronic underfunding, failing infrastructure, outdated equipment, staff shortages, procurement failures, and poor leadership have paralysed an institution vital to solving serious crimes.
Urgent multi-layered intervention is required:
Independent oversight.
Proper funding.
Modernised infrastructure.
Specialised recruitment and training.
Transparent procurement.
A forensic turnaround strategy driven by accountability and professionalism.
Without decisive action, South Africa will continue to lose the battle against violent crime — not because criminals are too powerful, but because the forensic system meant to stop them has been allowed to fail.
SSS has raised these concerns about the ongoing collapse of the South African Police Service’s Forensic Science Laboratory on numerous previous occasions. However, with no meaningful action or improvement forthcoming,
Specialised Security Services will continue to expose and highlight the devastating impact of this failure on justice,
public safety, and victims across the country.
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