{"id":87083,"date":"2024-04-21T20:08:27","date_gmt":"2024-04-21T20:08:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/?p=87083"},"modified":"2025-11-17T17:41:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T17:41:09","slug":"south-africa-shortage-of-forensic-pathologists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/2024\/04\/21\/south-africa-shortage-of-forensic-pathologists\/","title":{"rendered":"Despite rising crime rate, SA has dire shortage of forensic experts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Have you ever thought about what would happen to your body if you were murdered? Turns out, it\u2019s a bit like what you see on TV \u2013 you\u2019d be sent to a mortuary and the evidence collected from the autopsy would be used in court to help put your killer behind bars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in South Africa, it\u2019s a little more complicated in practice \u2013 mostly because there is a dire shortage of forensic pathologists, the experts who carry out autopsies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ideally,\u00a0a country needs 6 forensic pathologists per million people<\/strong>, says specialist forensic pathologist and author Prof Ryan Blumenthal. Instead of the 330 South Africa should have, there were\u00a0only about 50 working in the public sector last year.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the number of pathologists entering the profession being relatively stagnant, murders in South Africa have increased by 36% since 2017. This means there’s even more work for forensic pathologists to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Swamped<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Gauteng, which has a population of more than 15-million, has just 16 forensic pathologists in public service<\/strong>, according to the provincial department of health. And the caseload faced by these 16 experts? In 2023, almost 22,000 bodies \u2013 about 60 a day \u2013 were admitted for autopsies in Gauteng, a 45% increase from 2006, which is as far back as the data goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If they were to have performed all the necessary autopsies in 2023, Gauteng\u2019s forensic pathologists would have had to assess 1,367 bodies each. Given that it takes about 3 hours per body (longer in more gruesome or complicated cases), each forensic pathologist would have had to work 12-hour shifts for 7 days a week to get their jobs done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Busted guidelines<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are 11 medico-legal laboratories (better known as mortuaries or morgues) in Gauteng, with some carrying heavier loads than others. The Department of Health says 40% of all the bodies admitted for autopsies in Gauteng last year were assessed at two morgues, Germiston and Joburg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the US, official guidelines recommend that forensic pathologists perform no more than 250 autopsies a year. If forensic pathologists exceed that number, the office loses accreditation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa does not have similar standards in place. If it did, most medico-legal laboratories would be at risk of losing their accreditation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It gets worse<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As of 29 February 2024, there were 776 unidentified bodies<\/strong> in Gauteng\u2019s mortuaries, according to the provincial department of health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Gauteng and the Western Cape have 16 forensic pathologists each, most of South Africa\u2019s other provinces only have 1 or 2, according to official figures. KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa\u2019s second-most populous province, has just 2 forensic pathologists, whereas Limpopo and the Free State have 7 each.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dead end<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The shortage of forensic pathologists means court cases are often delayed, ultimately causing setbacks in legal proceedings, says Blumenthal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Examinations may be rushed due to increased workload [which] might mean evidence might not be as reliable, affecting trial outcomes,’ he says. ‘Solving crimes will become tougher without enough forensic experts to analyse the evidence.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The heavy caseloads, harsh working conditions and pay that\u2019s below international salary scales paint a grim picture for forensic pathology in SA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of the issues, including the shortage of posts, are as a result of a lack of state support and funding. As Blumenthal says in his book Autopsy: Life in the Trenches with a Forensic Pathologist in Africa<\/a>, forensic pathology is \u2018always going to come last because our patients are already dead\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blumenthal says many of his colleagues have emigrated and are working in places such as Australia and Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notebook<\/h2>\n\n\n\n