Pretoria - Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi on Wednesday launched a study programme that will see South Africa reduce the turnaround time for toxicology results as well as increase the number of forensic toxicologists.
Speaking at the official opening of the Programme in Forensic Toxicology on Tuesday, Motsoaledi said it would go a long way in reversing the department's poor record when coming to releasing toxicology results.
The programme is a joint initiative between the department and the University of Pretoria.
Seventy graduates have been accepted into the programme, whereas initially 184 applications were received following advertisements of the programme last year.
"Our plan is to develop and skill the graduates through the programme and later expose them to our labs," explained the minister.
South Africa has a total of three chemistry labs - in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town respectively. Motsoaledi said the department was currently looking into building a lab in KwaZulu-Natal.
"Forensic chemistry labs are important, not only in the Department of Health but in the life of the whole country," said Motsoaledi, adding that results from these labs affected crime cases when coming to the testing of blood alcohol levels.
Toxicology and food analysis also form part of the work done by the three labs.
While also improving on human capital, the department was looking at ways of enhancing its technological abilities and looking for students in the ICT sector, among others.
Motsoaledi explained that in other countries, toxicology results in cases were available in six weeks -- a feat that did not happen in South Africa.
He recalled a case whereby he received a phone call from a distressed Limpopo man who was still waiting for lab results into the unnatural cause of death of his wife in 2008.
"These matters affect families hard. I want to significantly improve our turnaround time," he said.
He also acknowledged the country's high rate of vehicle accidents that were mainly caused by drunken driving.
