JOHANNESBURG - The South African Police Service has advertised 353 vacancies for former detectives to return on fixed-term contracts in an effort to strengthen investigative capacity.
The appointments come as the backlog in forensics testing is so severe that cases are being dismissed due to the long wait.
"The president, together with the former minister of police, signed partnerships with the private sector," said Calvin Rafadi, UJ Research Associate.
WATCH: Discussion | SAPS seeks return of experienced detectives
"We were promised so-called e-labs would be established, and that is what he new minister needs to look at and follow up because those kinds of labs will yield results in combating crime.
"But what I can tell you is that the backlog is so bad to a point that even with gun ballistics, most of them you can hardly get the results on time," he said.
"And many cases of such magnitude even get thrown out of court, and the criminals, that is why they act with such impunity."