KZN police admit forensic lab damage delayed investigations in province
In 2016, heavy floods caused major damage to the building forcing KZN police to use labs in other provinces.
FILE: KZN Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. Picture: Xanderleigh Dookey Makhaza/EWN
DURBAN - KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) police have admitted that investigations in the province have hit a snag after the only forensic lab in the province was damaged.
In 2016, heavy floods caused major damage to the building, forcing KZN police to use labs in other provinces.
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Provincial Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi said: "The cases affected in the main are the ones that require forensic reports, which will range from any case that involves a firearm it will need a ballistic report, any case that involves drugs is going to need that chemical report from forensics."
Mkhwanazi added that the issue had also had a ripple effect on court cases.
"In the main, those cases are the ones that get delayed because of the time it takes. As it were, the majority of the exhibits get transferred to be main labs in Pretoria and take time and it delays the process."