| (1) | Subject to subsection (3) any police official may without warrant take fingerprints or body-prints and bodily samples of a person or a group of persons or may cause any such prints or samples to be taken, if— |
| (a) | there are reasonable grounds to suspect that that person or that one or more of the persons in that group has committed an offence punishable with imprisonment for a period of five years or longer in terms of this Act; and |
| (b) | there are reasonable grounds to believe that the prints or samples or the results of an examination thereof, will be of value in the investigation by excluding or including one or more of the persons as a possible perpetrator of the offence. |
[Section 113(1) repealed by section 8 of the Criminal Law (Forensic Procedures) Amendment Act, 2013 (Act No. 37 of 2013)]
| (2) | The person who has control over prints or samples taken in terms of this section— |
| (a) | may examine them for purposes of the investigation of the relevant offence or cause them to be so examined; and |
| (b) | may cause any prints taken under any power conferred by this section, to be subjected to a comparative search. |
[Section 113(2) repealed by section 8 of the Criminal Law (Forensic Procedures) Amendment Act, 2013 (Act No. 37 of 2013)]
| (3) | Bodily samples to be taken from the body of a person, may only be taken by a registered medical practitioner or a registered nurse. |
[Section 113(3) repealed by section 8 of the Criminal Law (Forensic Procedures) Amendment Act, 2013 (Act No. 37 of 2013)]
| (4) | A police official may do such tests, or cause such tests to be done, as may be necessary to determine whether a person suspected of having handled or discharged a firearm or muzzle loading firearm has indeed handled or discharged a firearm or muzzle loading firearm. |
[Section 113(4) substituted by section 35 of Act No. 28 of 2006]
| (a) | The fingerprints, body-prints and bodily samples, taken under any power conferred by this section, and the record of steps taken under this section— |
| (i) | must upon the conviction of an adult person be retained; |
| (ii) | must upon the conviction of a child be retained on a database referred to in Chapter 5A of the South African Police Service Act, subject to the provisions relating to the expungement of a conviction and sentence of a child as provided for in section 87 of the Child Justice Act, 2008 (Act No. 75 of 2008); and |
| (iii) | in a case where a decision was made not to prosecute a person, if the person is found not guilty at his or her trial, or if his or her conviction is set aside by a superior court or if he or she is discharged at a preparatory examination or if no criminal proceeding with reference to such fingerprints or body-prints was instituted against the person concerned in any court or if the prosecution declines to prosecute, must be destroyed within 30 days after the officer commanding the Division responsible for criminal records referred to in Chapter 5A of the South African Police Service Act has been notified. |
| (b) | The fingerprints or body-prints which may be retained in terms of this section, may only be used for purposes related to the detection of crime, the investigation of an offence the identification of missing persons, the identification of unidentified human remains or the conducting of a prosecution. |
| (c) | Any person who, with regard to any fingerprints, body-prints or bodily samples referred to in this section— |
| (i) | uses or who allows the use of those fingerprints, body-prints or bodily samples for any purpose that is not related to the detection of crime, the investigation of an offence, the identification of missing persons, the identification of unidentified human remains or the conducting of a prosecution; or |
| (ii) | tampers with or manipulates the process or the fingerprints, body-prints or bodily samples in question; or |
| (iii) | falsely claims such fingerprints, body-prints or bodily samples to have been taken from a specific person whilst knowing them to have been taken from another person or source, |
is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 15 years.
| (d) | The fingerprints and body-prints referred to in paragraph (a)(i) and (ii), must be stored in the database maintained by the National Commissioner, as provided for in Chapter 5A of the South African Police Service 15 Act, 1995 (Act No. 68 of 1995). |
[Section 113(5) repealed by section 8 of the Criminal Law (Forensic Procedures) Amendment Act, 2013 (Act No. 37 of 2013)]
