A police laboratory technician who dealt with sensitive murder and rape evidence is facing charges of defeating the ends of justice after irregularities emerged in 10 cases she handled.
Investigators are probing whether or not her alleged tampering with forensic evidence has led to false convictions.
The Cape Argus has reliably learnt that many of the cases were from the family violence unit and dealt with sexual abuse of children.
A source close to the probe alleged that quality checks were not in place at the lab, which could result in abuse of procedures by technicians.
The civilian technician, who was based at the Delft forensic laboratory, resigned in March, soon after a colleague blew the whistle.
She has not yet been arrested and cannot be named until she appears in court.
A source at the Directorate of Public Prosecutions said prosecution was being considered.
Allegations and evidence were serious enough to warrant a prima facie criminal charge.
The technician is believed to have "bumped up her (job performance) statistics" by manipulating the findings of forensic examinations assigned to her.
Elna de Beer, spokesperson for provincial police commissioner Mzwandile Petros, also confirmed that an investigation was under way. The misconduct had been revealed during routine quality checks, she said.
But a source close to the probe said quality checks were not in place and procedures could be abused by corrupt technicians to favour or frame a suspect.