The revelation before the Madlanga commission this week about the state of SA’s police ballistics division has left the nation uneasy.
Brig Mishak Mkhabela’s testimony painted a bleak picture of a department struggling to perform one of the most crucial tasks in crime-solving: analysing the weapons that end lives and terrorise communities.
The restlessness over this problem is justified. SA is battling an epidemic of gun violence, with murders and armed robberies occurring at alarming rates.
Every bullet fired represents not only a life endangered but also an investigation that demands scientific precision and speed. Yet, the very division tasked with providing that science is under-resourced, understaffed and overwhelmed.
According to Mkhabela, his unit faces an array of crippling shortages - from too few analysts to inadequate storage space for seized firearms still awaiting testing. These are not minor inconveniences; they are systemic failures that stall justice.
The backlog of unprocessed firearms and ballistic evidence is not merely a technical problem—it is a human tragedy. Each untested gun represents a delayed case, a grieving family left without answers, and a potential killer who remains free to strike again.
The most troubling aspect of this revelation is that the current high-profile case linked to a suspected Gauteng crime cartel is only the tip of the iceberg.
If such a prominent investigation is hampered by resource constraints, what of the thousands of unsolved murders in smaller places? These are areas where it has become the norm for victims’ families not to hear a word, for years, from detectives investigating their relatives’ cases.
This silence must end. The government, more so the Presidency, cannot continue to allow this problem to persist. Ballistics analysis is as vital to law enforcement as patrol vehicles or police stations.
If SA lacks the expertise locally, then extraordinary measures — such as recruiting qualified people from abroad or establishing regional forensic partnerships — should be seriously considered.
The credibility of the justice system depends on its ability to solve violent crimes swiftly and accurately. Allowing the ballistics division to wither under resource starvation is tantamount to surrendering to criminals. The Madlanga Commission has lifted the lid on an institutional crisis that can no longer be ignored.
SA cannot win the war against violent crime if the weapons that kill its citizens continue to escape scientific scrutiny. The time to fix the ballistics division is now — before the trail of gunfire grows any colder.
Sowetan
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