Johannesburg - Broken equipment and bad management could be placing the country's drunk-driving blood alcohol samples, post-mortem and toxicology reports at risk.
This is according to whistleblowers in the Department of Health's forensic chemistry laboratories and a 2015/16 Auditor General's report into the Pretoria forensic laboratory which News24 has seen.
The labs are critical in drunk-driving cases as all blood tests from arrested motorists are sent there for testing. There are four laboratories in the country: Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban.
The labs have been in the spotlight for a number of years, particularly because of the backlog in getting samples analysed and released, leading to long delays in finalising criminal cases. The last time the number of backlogs at the labs was published was in 2014. At the time, it was heading towards 60 000 samples nationally.
The Star newspaper reported that the Pretoria laboratory was completely dysfunctional. Staff members were forced to work amid leaking sewage, fire hazards and overcrowding.
Chief Director for violence, emergency medical services and forensic pathology services at the health department Pakiso Netshidzivhani said at the time that the building where the laboratory was situated was not ideal and they were procuring a new one.
Fridges, which should be between 0°C and 8°C to safeguard the integrity of samples, were recorded being as warm as 10°C in 2014.
Two years later the lab is still in the same building and the situation appears to have worsened.
According to the Auditor General's report, blood alcohol and toxicology samples at the Pretoria lab were kept in fridges where temperatures were not consistently recorded.
According to the report, the correct storage of samples according to stipulated temperature protocols is essential to preserve the integrity of 13 410 blood alcohol and toxicology samples awaiting analysis.
A toxicology fridge recorded a temperature of 18.8°C, according to the report. Samples were still being kept in it.
"On further inquiry it was discovered that the fridge has been out of order for a while, with no clear indication of how long and whether action has been taken to rectify the problem," the report said.
The report contained observations about the building the laboratory was situated in:
- Dust had resulted in frequent breakdowns of the thermo scientific machine used to test for heavy metals;- The wooden floors in the blood alcohol section were not suitable for laboratory functioning, and spills could result in exposure to hazardous materials; - Fridges and cold rooms were filled to capacity;- In the toxicology section 23 analysts shared the same space and certain sections got very crowded;- There were recurring power outages due to the old electrical wiring in the building, which resulted in equipment damage.
