Johannesburg – It has been one year and four months since Rose Mametje’s son was murdered and then burnt beyond recognition.
Yet, the 52-year-old mother has not been able to bury her son because the police are yet to conduct DNA tests on his remains for identification purposes.
Mametje’s 31-year-old son, Given Shabangu, was shot and killed during a car hijacking at Marite Trust in Bushbuckridge and his body was reportedly set alight by his killers.
She said she was initially told that it would take a month to return her son’s remains, but the month lapsed with no word of her son’s remains.
Since then, Mametje has been sent from pillar to post in her efforts to get his remains so that she can bury and grieve properly.
Delays in the release of DNA results is a national problem that prompted parliament’s police portfolio committee to put pressure on the South African Police Service management and the private laboratories involved to up their game.
Police Minister Bheki Cele last month apologised in the National Assembly for the now more than 200 000 outstanding DNA results backlog in forensic science laboratory services.
Cele made the apology during a debate on the DNA crisis, sponsored by the DA.
The outstanding DNA results were standing at 172 787 in February and dated as far back as April 2019. The backlog now stands at 208 291.
At the time, Cele said the backlog had given them sleepless nights.
“It has been a nightmare for everyone relying on services of science laboratories to find justice and closure,” he said. Research conducted by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) recently revealed that the DNA results delays in the country affect crime victims, law-enforcement agencies, investigators, courts and other role players. According to the ISS report, “staff shortage is one of the factors causing the delays when dealing with the DNA”.
“Since my son was killed, I have not had peace because the police are refusing to hand over his remains to us. My son was brutally murdered last year in January. The police took all his remains saying they were going to conduct DNA tests to prove that the remains belong to him,” said the irate mother.
“We have been waiting to hear from the police since last year. So, this week I went to see the Calcutta police station commander and he could not give me straight answers. He referred me to the provincial forensic department in Nelspruit,” Mametje said.
Mametje said that last year the authorities also mentioned Covid-19 regulations as another reason for their refusal to release the remains. She said she was adamant that the remains belonged to her son because at the scene there was a piece of a shirt, a belt and a hat that Shabangu was wearing the day he was murdered. Apart from the pieces of clothing that were found at the scene, some people also claim that they witnessed the killing, she said.
When contacted for comment, Brigadier Leonard Hlathi did not answer questions about Shabangu’s remains or the DNA result, only confirming that “two suspects were arrested concerning the case”.
He referred the questions to the Hawks on the grounds that the case had been handed over to them.
Mpumalanga Hawks spokesperson Captain Deneo Sekgotodi also did not answer questions about when the remains or DNA tests results will be released.
By Masoka Dube.
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