Africa-Press – South-Africa. NEWS
The Gauteng health department is working around the clock to reduce the 10 900 postmortem backlogs.
On Tuesday provincial health spokesperson Kwara Kekana said 2 308 of the postmortem reports were at the forensic chemistry laboratory and the rest at the forensic pathology laboratories. Without giving a breakdown, Kekana said the backlog was as a result of an increase in the number of people dying of multiple gunshot wounds.
Kekana said:
She said on average a postmortem took between 60 minutes and 90 minutes to perform while reports could take between four and six weeks per case to be completed.
“This is due to the fact that investigations take place in various divisions. The biochemistry tests for blood and toxicology are conducted at forensic chemistry laboratory whereas a postmortem is conducted at the forensic pathology laboratory. Different circumstances in these divisions determine the time it takes to complete a post-mortem report and also the nature of each case plays a part in the turnaround time,” she said.
Kekana said for instance a single stab wound report may take shorter to complete than a multiple gunshot death case report.
Kekana explained:
City Press reported earlier that there was also a backlog in forensic tests when it comes to DNA tests in cases of violent crimes. This was flagged by a KwaZulu-Natal judge after a rape accused, who was freed pending a DNA analysis, went on to rape and murder a child.
READ: Winning Women | Paving the way for the DNA database
Last April it was reported that the backlog, caused in part by a dispute with a service provider, stood at more than 210 000 cases.
READ: Four-year SAPS forensic evidence backlog on the brink of being resolved
Judge Mohini Moodley, sitting in the Mtunzini Circuit Court, said the matter before her was a “clear example” of the tragic consequences of how the backlog affected victims of gender-based violence and the administration of justice.
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