The Botswana Police Service Science Laboratory (BPFSL) hosted a celebration to mark its accreditation status to ISO/IEC 17025:2017 for its Traffic Management Systems on 15 July 2025 at the Special Support Group Band Wing Hall, Gaborone, Botswana. The event was attended by Police Commissioner, Commissioner Ms. Dinah Marathe and management and staff from Botswana Police, senior government officials, stakeholders and media fraternity.
SADCAS CEO, Ms. Eve Christine Gadzikwa, celebrated the achievement by BPFSL, noting that accreditation is a rigorous and rewarding journey. Ms Gadzikwa noted that BPFSL was the second laboratory accredited by SADCAS in the Forensic Science lab space in the SADC region and the first in Botswana. The first SADCAS accredited facility was the Government Chemist Laboratory Authority- DNA Laboratory in Tanzania.
She further emphasised on the importance of accreditation in forensic laboratories, “Forensic science plays a critical role in criminal justice systems, providing the evidentiary backbone that courts and investigators rely on. However, science must not only be performed—it must be trusted.It assures all stakeholders—from law enforcement to judges, from victims to the public—that the methods used in our laboratories are competent, impartial, and consistent with international best practice.”
In his acceptance speech, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Support Services, Solomon Mantswe expressed gratitude towards the accreditation and committed that BPS will maintain the accreditation. He further assured the effectiveness of Forensic science and law enforcement function. He said the Accreditation was a clear demonstration of Botswana’s commitment to adopting international best practices in forensic science, particularly road safety.
As of 31 June 2025, SADCAS has issued 384 accreditation certificates to 331 accredited facilities in 13 SADC Member States; 4 certificates from non-SADC member states: 2 from Mauritius and 2 from Burundi. As of 30 June 2025, SADCAS has cumulatively conducted 309 training courses in most SADC Member States as part of its efforts to develop the capacity of conformity assessment bodies for accreditation and Botswana tops the list of the countries with most training courses conducted. Currently, Botswana has conducted 85 training courses which accounts for 28% of the total courses conducted by SADCAS.
