GAUTENG. – Action Society has warned that South Africa's DNA backlog could help a possible serial killer evade detection after the bodies of nine women have been found in Ekurhuleni since July.
Juanita du Preez, national spokesperson for Action Society, says the discovery of the bodies within a relatively short timeframe emphasises the importance of forensic evidence being urgently processed and compared with the National Forensic DNA Database. Du Preez says if the same person is responsible for some of the deaths, DNA evidence could potentially help link him to previous sexual offences, assaults, attempted murder or murder.
Action Society reported in 2023 that DNA analysis in a group of 10,493 prioritised cases identified 486 serial rapists. The organisation warned at the time that repeat sexual offenders could escalate their crimes.
According to Action Society's latest assessment of the DNA system, approximately 175,500 DNA entries have exceeded the prescribed processing period. Only 3.5% of swab samples were processed within the prescribed 30 days, while 8.88% of routine DNA evidence was completed within the required 35 days. Action Society appeals to police to urgently process the forensic evidence from the respective scenes and compare it with the National Forensic DNA Database and unsolved cases. The organisation also asks that police confirm whether usable DNA was collected at the scenes, whether the profiles were processed and whether any possible matches with previous cases were found.
Police have meanwhile launched an extensive investigation into the deaths. They also warn against unverified information about an alleged
This article is an automatic English translation of a Nuusflits article originally published in Afrikaans. Read the Afrikaans original.
