Unpaid bills put police on the skids
Forensic probes, court cases could be hit after systems supplier cuts services
APOTENTIAL disaster is looming as a national police service provider which has not been paid has suspended services for two crucial systems which could stall forensic investigations and court cases. This comes after Forensic Data Analysis (FDA) director Keith Keating warned this week that the company would halt certain support services to the systems as of midnight on Wednesday should it fail to meet an agreement with police.
The move to suspend services on the Property Control and Exhibit Management (PCEM) and Firearm Permit System (FPS) could stall ongoing court cases and severely hamper police investigations that rely on forensic testing.
The police fund the PCEM system, while the State Information Technology Agency (Sita) funds the FPS.
FDA supplies support services for both systems and says its decision to suspend the services came after non-payment since late last year.
Late yesterday afternoon, FDA confirmed it had suspended the services and that it was owed more than R70-million.
In a joint statement yesterday, Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo and Sita multi-stakeholder projects executive Sithembele Senti said certain systems had been shut down.
“While [it] is likely to affect the efficiency of certain operations within the SAPS, they however do not completely bring operations to a halt.”
The statement added that steps had been taken to ensure that contingency plans were in place, but failed to specify what exactly had been done.
“In the meantime, we are seeking legal advice and will act accordingly.
“Also, we will not be giving out specifics given that there are serious security implications and that we may potentially need to act on the legal advice if necessary.”
Legal experts have warned of the ripple effect the situation could have on evidence and police firearm management.
“FDA has informed SAPS and Sita that to continue providing critical services to SAPS . . . is unjustifiable and irresponsible in circumstances where payments are unlawfully withheld and where FDA will receive no payments in the foreseeable future,” Keating said.
His statement comes after the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) briefed the police portfolio committee last week and recommended that all contracts with FDA be terminated.
Keating, a former policeman-turned businessman, is at the centre of a probe into procurement irregularities involving alleged bribes paid to former acting national commissioner Khomotso Phahlane. The statement says Police Minister Bheki Cele was informed, but only responded by saying police boss Khehla Sitole had been asked for feedback.
Yesterday, both Sitole and Cele’s offices failed to respond to questions.
A letter to Cele, dated March 2, says these systems are “mission critical” and stalling their support services could have potentially disastrous consequences.
It says if the PCEM systems go down, no evidence can be booked into, processed or leave the police Forensic Science Laboratory and, should a manual system be used, the chain of evidence would be broken.
With regard to the FPS, police bosses would not be able to access the system daily to monitor the issuing of firearms.
The systems in Nelson Mandela Bay are still functional.
Several local police officials said suspending the FPS would have little effect on operations but others said any breakdown of the evidence and crime scene exhibit system would have serious consequences for court cases.
Port Elizabeth attorney Braam Greyling, who was a brigadier in the police legal affairs department, said any disruption to the PCEM could have a massive impact on criminal cases. This could affect everything from firearms at murder scenes to DNA samples gathered and even blood drawn from drunk drivers, he said.
“If the chain of custody of the evidence is brought into disrepute, there would be reasonable doubt as to whether the evidence was tampered with. This would effectively lead to people getting off.
“Even if they did bring in the archaic system of handwritten notes to prove custody of evidence, it opens the system to vulnerabilities and human error.”