serial rapist and killer: Jack Mogale

Chris Asplen, a DNA policy expert with U.S. federal, state and international experience has an extensive understanding of the administration of DNA Databases and is recognised as one of the foremost legal experts on forensic DNA technology. He has also worked with the SA government previously as well as the governments of the United Kingdom, Italy,  the Philippines, China, India, Kenya, Croatia, Serbia, Russia, Chile, the Netherlands and several more.
Chris previously commented on how victims of rape are being let down by our politicians who have failed to pass legislation which would ensure that profiles are kept on a DNA database for criminal intelligence purposes to resolve crimes even where there is no suspect. Click here to read more.

“I’ve been assured by the officials that the list of Bills before Parliament changes as new Bills are introduced for consideration by the Portfolio committees, so the Police Portfolio bills for the year should be introduced by the Minister in due course.”

Mrs Chikunga Sindisiwe - Chairperson of the tour has failed to respond to any one of my emails requesting clarity on when the DNA Bill will be reviewed.

Not really satisfied with her reply I responded as follows:

“It doesn’t really answer my question as to where the Bill is and when the committee intend to review it again.   Whose responsibility is it to bring it back to the table? Has the Chairperson indicated to you as to whether your Portfolio Committee are going to get around to reviewing the DNA Bill anytime soon?”

I received a one liner:

“Nothing as yet.  Perhaps when we start our committees the programme section will give us a schedule for the year.”

I read her reply to a few colleagues last night, one of which was a German Prof visiting Cape Town – The Prof’s response was as follows: “SA is so slow and dull. Perhaps it is because we have rotten weather in Europe that we are so much faster and smarter!”.

Moral of the story: we can blame the apathy and inefficiency of our Portfolio Committee for Police on the weather!

Sad isn’t it?

7 months after their overseas study tour, this is where we are. Acceptable? I say not. This needs to be exposed as does the cost of their study tour to us taxpayers. If the study tour was so necessary and urgent, the very least they can do is get down to the business of actually using that knowledge, before it is forgotten, to promulgate legislation which will regulate our DNA Database.

Portfolio Committee Member Dianne Kohler-Barnard who went on the 'study tour' commented that the Committee do recognise, following the tour, that 'legislation is required in SA' to regulate a National DNA Database

I am meeting with Chris Asplen tomorrow and am going to discuss ways in which, from his experience, we can put pressure on our Government to address this ommission and apathy. Chris Asplen, as some of you may already know, is a DNA policy expert with U.S. federal, state and international experience. Chris has an extensive understanding of the administration of DNA Databases and is recognised as one of the foremost legal experts on forensic DNA technology. He has also worked with the SA government previously as well as the governments of the United Kingdom, Italy,  the Philippines, China, India, Kenya, Croatia, Serbia, Russia, Chile, the Netherlands and several more.
Part of the reason he is coming on this trip is because we are looking at the possibility of  setting up an NGO into Africa for awareness into body part trafficking and identification of body parts  through DNA.
However, I think it is a very good opportunity to procure his further commentary on the DNA Bill. In a previous editorial which hit several SA newspaper’s last year, Chris made some hard hitting comments which related specifically to a DNA Database in SA and how victims of rape are being let down by our politicians who have failed to pass legislation which would ensure that profiles are kept on a DNA database for criminal intelligence purposes to resolve crime even when there is no suspect.

It’s time to bring these people to book. Their apathy is more stifling and oppressive than our hot weather and I simply cannot stand it.

Vanessa Lynch

We heard today that our “Cigarette that Saved Lives” ad made it onto TED’s “Ads Worth Spreading” challenge! This is wonderful news and a huge accolade to the incredibly creative team who conceptualised (FoxP2) and produced (EGG Films) this advert for The DNA Project.

If you think our ad is Worth Spreading then please click here to vote for:  An ad worth spreading

The votes don’t totally determine the selection of the top 10 ads, but they do let the organisers know what the crowd favorites are. They count all the votes and monitor the conversation across social media outlets and make their decision.  Whatever the outcome, TED is a pretty cool place to be recognised!

What is the competition all about? With this competition, TED is seeking to reverse the trend of online ads being aggressively forced on users. “We want to nurture ads so good you choose to watch. On TED.com, ads run after our talks, not before. This means they can run longer than the TV-standard 30 seconds. And that’s the key! In 2-3 minutes, there’s enough time to really tell a story, share an idea, make an authentic human connection, become unforgettable. Instead of ambush, they offer pleasurable, intelligent engagement. “

This  invitation  is  open  to  all  Clinical  Forensic  Examiners  (Medical   Officers  and  Sexual  Assault  Nurse  Examiners),  nurses  who  assist  in   the  Clinical  Forensic  and  Thuthuzela  units,  SAPS  (especially  Family   Violence,  Child  Protection  and  Sexual  Offenses  Unit  staff),   interested  NPA  staff  and  relevant  NGO  staff.

South Africa Continues Work on Database Implementation

Universally, one of the most difficult problems faced when integrating DNA databasing technology into any criminal justice system is finding adequate resources and laboratory capacity.    Even when attempts are made through the legislative process to anticipate the laboratory needs created by an effective database, few countries possess the infrastructure to immediately maximize the crime solving potential of DNA. South Africa is a notable exception. If South Africa manages to pass legislation this year establishing an offender DNA database, the South African Police Service (SAPS) will be ready with an automated laboratory system they have been developing for years.

Since 2002, SAPS has maintained an automated system for DNA analysis that is one of the most advanced in the world. However, the lack of legislation establishing an offender database has prevented South Africa from reaping the full benefits of a laboratory system envied by many other countries. With crime statistics showing South Africa to be one of the most sexually violent places on the planet, the SAPS laboratory has both the capacity and technical sophistication to hit back hard. But absent the legislation, tremendous potential goes unrealized.

According to the United Nations, South Africa ranks second for murder and first for assaults and rapes per capita. An average of fifty two people is murdered every day there and the number of rapes reported in a year is around 55,000. It is estimated that 500,000 rapes are actually committed annually in South Africa. In a 2009 survey, one in four South African men admitted to raping someone. Even more insidious, South Africa has one of the highest incidences of child and infant rape in the world. It is a country where it is believed that intercourse with a virgin will cure or prevent HIV/AIDS and where child rape is used as a method of retaliation against another for a perceived wrong. Children are murdered and body parts used for “traditional” medicinal remedies. And in a country also cursed with epidemic rates of HIV/Aids, rape takes on an exponentially tragic dimension.

However, after ten years, it appears as though the South African Parliament is poised to pass legislation in the next year which will unleash the power of DNA and stem the tide of sexual violence. Having taken a study trip abroad to the United Kingdom and Canada this summer, the Portfolio Committee responsible for developing the legislation has fulfilled one of its announced requirements before recommending the legislation to Parliament. They have also received significant input from victim advocates such as Vanessa Lynch, Executive Director of the DNA Project as well as testimony from Chris Asplen of Gordon Thomas Honeywell Governmental Affairs. Significant radio and television attention has also helped drive the Committee to forward the legislation to the full Parliament.

When passed, the South African DNA database legislation will create an investigative tool that, if properly implemented, could not only begin saving lives immediately by removing serial rapists and murders from the streets, but will also serve as a model for neighboring countries and ultimately all of Africa.

Bags being delivered to Rape Crisis, from left Kath Dey, Vanessa Lynch & Francesca Lynch

The result of this collective energy is the delivery of over 200 handbags to various Rape Crisis and Trauma Centres in the Western Cape.

This will help to ensure that every Rape Survivor who receives a bag, will be shown dignity, care and respect at a time when it will be needed the most.

Francesca Lynch sorting out handbags at our offices

The DNA Project agreed to help deliver these handbags in the Western Cape following an appeal by the Jes Foord Foundation which it received earlier this year. Unfortunately, often empty and half filled handbags started arriving at our offices. My assistant, Maya and my sister in law, Francesca were roped in to help tackle the problem of not only filling, but sorting and delivering these bags to the various Rape Crisis centres. Without their tireless dedication, organisation and hard work, none of this would have been possible.

After appealling to a local school, the St Cyprian’s Grade 10 girls set about writing handwritten notes for each of the bags. Not only did they compose a caring note of

Grade 10's at St Cyprian's School writing notes for Rape Survivors

encouragement and care for each bag, but they hand made each card. The CEO of Cyberlogic, Edge Bisset, who works next door to our offices, curious about the boxes of handbags piling up in our small working space, rallied together his staff to get involved and in one day raised R6500 to buy items to fill the bags which were empty or half full. Our Landlord, Jon Maliepaard of enetworks offered us the much needed extra space to sort out the bags which were literally spilling out of my office!

Cyberlogic staff helping to load the boxes of bags ready for delivery

Within two weeks, each bag had been filled, packed sealed, labelled, itemised and delivered – all because a number of unconnected people,  unwittingly connected to make it happen.

What better gift to give at a time of the year which in spite of inspiring love and kindness in most of us, seems to incite rage and violence in others (December and January records the highest number of violence against women and children).

Thank you to all of you who have made a difference to the life of a person whom you will never know and who can never repay you, but who will never forget your kindness.

Vanessa

Maya itemising and labeling each handbag

Conceptualised by Fox P2, The Cigarette That Saved Lives depicts another brutal South African murder but focuses on the evidence that’s left behind, encouraging viewers to never disturb a crime scene as DNA can convict.
The ad is paradoxical: a cigarette saves lives in a commercial where the lead woman dies. “The wonderful thing about this ad is that it creates conversation,” says The DNA Project founder Vanessa Lynch. “Egg and Fox P2 have done a brilliant job.”
Everyone involved with the shoot worked pro bono, from the crew to the rental houses. “This project struck me as one of the more worthwhile causes in our country,” says Bruno. The DNA Project would also like to thank the Change A Life Trust for helping by sponsoring this advert.

Vanessa set up The DNA Project after her father’s murderers went free because DNA evidence left at the crime scene was discarded, destroyed and not properly collected.
“There was only one chance to collect and preserve that evidence, and it was lost,” says Vanessa. “We can never go back, so that crucial link to my father’s killers was lost with it.”

The Cigarette That Saved Lives is currently screening on local broadcasters as part of the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children between 25 November (International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women) and 10 December 2011 (International Human Rights Day).
“Awareness is one of our biggest problems,” says Vanessa. “You can have the laws and systems in place but you only have once chance to gather the evidence before it’s lost forever.”

The Criminal Law Amendment Bill, which proposes an expanded national DNA database, is currently under review by Parliament. Vanessa is available for interviews to discuss the Bill, as well as the gap between shows like CSI and the South African reality. For more information, email info@dnaproject.co.za

021 557 0246

before Monday 5 December

Click here for full details

6pm: AGM and scavengar hunt/picnic (bring your own picnic hamper and digital camera)

7pm: Solve the mystery of Prof. Green’s dispatch