JOHANNESBURG - A crisis at the police's forensic labs has been exposed at the Madlanga Commission.
Ballistics analyst Laurance Makgotloe says there is pressure to produce quantity over quality.
He says this leads to errors and inadequate analysis of results.
Makgotloe says he never intended to mislead the Political Killings Task Team.
Makgotloe linked Armand Swart’s murder in Vereeniging to another crime scene in Bramley, where police tracked a vehicle involved in the killing to a suspect’s home.
But Makgotloe has denied telling Witness B, an officer in the Political Killings Task Team, that ballistics were linked to other high-profile cases.
"I was aware of this link between the Bramley and Vereeniging case because I conducted the ballistics exhibits.
"Thus, I'm not certain whether the investigating officers misconcluded the linkages between those two cases. To mean there were links to other cases," he said.
Makgotloe added that they were under pressure to produce ballistic reports for investigations.
But at times, they were churning out reports without careful consideration.
The commission returns on Tuesday with a witness believed to have been in cahoots with alleged Big Five cartel member Katiso KT Molefe expected to take the stand.
- eNCA's Pule Letshwiti-Jones reports.