By Marcus Moloko
Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Dean Macpherson on Friday handed over the new KwaZulu-Natal SAPS Forensic Science Laboratory in Mayville, Durban, to Police Minister Firoz Cachalia.
The laboratory is part of efforts to improve forensic capacity and ease long-running delays in criminal investigations in the province.
ALSO READ: Godlimpi says Vaal SEZ to drive reindustrialisation and investment
The facility, at 95 King Cetshwayo Highway, brings together forensic functions that had previously operated from fragmented and unsuitable premises, and is intended to strengthen service delivery in a province where flooding and infrastructure problems have repeatedly disrupted forensic work.
The handover ceremony was attended by Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli, Deputy Police Minister Cassel Mathale, eThekwini mayor Cyril Xaba and provincial commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
Parliament’s police committee has previously warned that the province’s forensic operations were being hampered by leased buildings in Amanzimtoti, including some on a flood plain, forcing interruptions during flooding and, at times, the transport of analysts to Cape Town or Pretoria to continue their work.
ALSO READ: Mkhwanazi admits withholding information from IPID
In March 2025, the committee said SAPS had reported six flooding incidents at the KwaZulu-Natal laboratory since 2016 and criticised the continued delays in securing a permanent solution.
SAPS has said the new facility is expected to enhance forensic service delivery, improve capacity to address DNA-related backlogs and reduce turnaround times.
While the police service reported in its 2023/24 annual report that the historical DNA backlog had been eradicated in 2023, its latest annual report shows forensic backlogs remain significant, with 258,678 case exhibits still outside prescribed timeframes at the end of March 2025, as well as a backlog of 6,450 candidate DNA forensic investigative leads.
SAPS says its forensic laboratories support disciplines including ballistics, biology, chemistry, questioned documents, scientific analysis and victim identification.