By Caryn Dolley
Premier Helen Zille is urgently looking into whether a private forensic laboratory can be set up in the province to help alleviate crippling backlogs at the health department and police laboratories.
She is working closely with private forensic scientist David Klatzow to determine whether a private facility would work.
Last week the Cape Times revealed how both the police forensic laboratory and the national Health Department's forensic chemistry laboratory in the Western Cape had major backlogs and staff shortages.
Yesterday Zille's spokesman, Robert MacDonald, said she had approached Klatzow about a month ago to try and find solutions to deal with the backlogs.
"She's taken his input with regard to setting up a private lab and has since discussed this with Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa and the health department. She's now looking to secure (another) meeting with the health department and will then get back to Klatzow," MacDonald said.
Klatzow said he felt a private laboratory should be set up but "because of the unfortunate fact that the province has no authority to raise funds, this project would have to be funded either by a private source or by a provincial/private co-operation".
He added: "It would not be difficult to set up a laboratory which could attack the problem, reduce backlogs and make certain there is an adequate supply of forensic science services countrywide ... Such a laboratory could be up and running within six months to a year and producing a far-reaching solution to the backlog within a year, depending on adequate funding and support."
Klatzow said aside from easing backlogs, a private laboratory "would also serve a valuable function of training adequate staff and make certain they meet certain levels before being allowed to perform forensic science".
"This laboratory would stand in conjunction with a university or a medical school and would provide an excellent centre for training students who have an interest in forensic science, of which there are many."
Yesterday Neels Viljoen, who headed the national Health Department's Pretoria forensic chemistry laboratory from 1985 to 2004, said staff shortages and an increase in samples being received had then already created backlogs.
"I mentioned this to the department in letter after letter but nothing was ever done. Now the laboratories are in a mess," he said.
The Cape Town forensic chemistry laboratory has a five-year backlog of samples awaiting toxicology tests.
Last week, Melvyn Freeman, the national Health Department's cluster manager for non-communicable diseases, said experts would discuss whether these old samples were worth testing.
Yesterday Viljoen said the samples were "worthless" as after five years they would not give the same result.