In early February Vanessa led oral submissions on the Criminal Law Forensic Procedures Amendment Bill to a special parliamentary portfolio committee. Prior to this she had spent many months lobbying for the vital new legislation, which will give the police new powers to gather DNA samples from arrested people regardless of whether they are prosecuted.

Given that more than 1,2 million arrests were made by the police last year, this new legislation should enable the rapid building of a national DNA database against which DNA evidence found at crime scenes can be correlated.

Vanessa, a qualified commercial attorney, gave up her full time job in 2005 to launch the DNA Project after her father’s tragic murder during a robbery at his home. Realising the critical role that DNA evidence could play in investigating crime (and how under utilised it currently is) Vanessa began campaigning for the facilities and enabling legislation required to create a comprehensive national DNA database. Over the past four years her legal skills, coupled with her determination and ability to think on her feet, have seen her make huge headway. Her successes to date include providing laboratory equipment for Pretoria and Western Cape’s Forensic Laboratories, developing a post graduate forensic analyst qualification as well as DNA forensic awareness training programmes.

Vanessa’s work has won the trust and support of Deputy Justice Minister Johnny de Lange who is guiding the current review of the country’s criminal justice system. If the Criminal Law Forensic Procedures Amendment Bill is passed in its present form (as seems highly likely), it will be in no small measure due to Vanessa’s tireless campaigning.