enca - 6 days ago

Ballistics expert details a slow, costly process of linking a firearm to crimes Zandile.Khumalo Mon, 10/27/2025 - 17:53 Madlanga Commission of Inquiry PRETORIA - The Madlanga Commission of Inquiry has heard a detailed testimony on the complex, time-consuming and costly process of identifying firearms and linking them to crimes through ballistics evidence.Mishak Mkhabela, the SAPs National head of ballistics, revealed this, as he took the witness stand on Monday, detailing how the Integrated Ballistics Identification System (IBIS) works.READ | WATCH | Ballistics expert testifies at Madlanga CommissionMkhabela, who s stationed at the Forensic Science Laboratory in Silverton, Pretoria, said once bullet and cartridge specimens are collected after the firearm identification process, the next phase is the database storage.During this stage, digital images and associated data are stored in a central database capable of holding hundreds or thousands of pieces of evidence.“If the network is stable, this process can take 5 to 24 hours,” he says. Once the automated comparison is completed, analysts enter a manual process called the ‘viewing stage’.“This is a process analyst who will come and sit in front of the system and view all the candidates that the system has identified as possible hits. And if they re satisfied that there are similarities indeed, then they will make a printout of those images and then request the physical specimens in the form of a case file for them to be compared manually through a comparison microscope,” Mkhabela explains. He adds that turnaround time for cartridges to be digitally scanned and potentially linked to other crimes could be slowed by administrative procedures and limited resources.“Due to the number of cases that were received and the limited resources, it may take around three months before you can acquire that specific case under normal circumstances, because the cases must queue,” Mkhabela says.He told the commission that maintaining the system comes at a steep cost, with payments going up to R3-million a month.

Latest News

Hashtags:   

Ballistics

 | 

expert

 | 

details

 | 

costly

 | 

process

 | 

linking

 | 

firearm

 | 

crimes

 | 

Sources