SAPS ballistics head says understaffing contributing to backlogs

A ballistics expert at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry has uncovered why investigations involving firearms often take far longer than expected to conclude.

Brigadier Mishak Mkhabela, head of Ballistic Unit at the South African Police Service (SAPS), has been testifying before the commission on Monday.

He's told the inquiry that ballistics units in most provinces are severely understaffed, resulting in significant backlogs in the analysis of cartridges and other firearm-related evidence.

The Ballistics Unit at the SAPS' forensic laboratory in Pretoria currently operates with only three active ballistic analysts.

With the current workload, each analyst can process only 200 evidence images per day, while the unit faces a backlog of 28,000 images.

Mkhabela said this amounts o over three months of backlog in analyising evidence and issuing ballistics reports.

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"You may find out that we've got images in our systems that have not been viewed for more than a year. Ideally, you want to have this process as it happens, but it’s not possible because of the lack of human resources."

Mkhabela said delays in issuing ballistic reports severely impact the conclusion of many criminal investigations.