Mayor reaches out to Whoonga Park’s lost youth

“I FEEL like we are the forgotten people,” said 23-year-old whoonga addict Siya Gumede to Berea Mail on Tuesday morning at Albert Park, commonly known as Whoogna Park, because of the masses of people addicted to the drug living there.

eThekwini Mayor James Nxumalo, together with members of the executive committee (EXCO), council officials and media visited Albert Park, with the aim of coming up with a multi-faceted approach to address the problems of drugs, crime, hygiene and vagrancy, which is tarnishing the image of the City.

Siya is one of many forgotten youngsters living in the park with slim hope of a better life. “I come from the Eastern Cape but left school in Grade 10 and left home after. This drug is killing me, my life is bad but I can’t do anything. I go anywhere to town or Umbilo and Glenwood and just ask people for a two rand or five rand, it is for drugs but sometimes I also get food. I don’t steal anymore, I snatched a chain from a lady in town and got caught and went to jail for two years and eight months” he said.

Without an ID document, Siya’s chances of getting a good job are futile but he has hope that he will get the assistance he needs to fight the drug and one day turn his life around. “I want to change my life and stop smoking (whoonga) and go back to school.”

Another young boy, Sandile Abdul who looked to be about14 years old, said he came to visit his friend at the Park. “I live in Newlands but came to live here before. I was stressed out but now I am living back home. Everyone here feels ashamed about living here and don’t like it but circumstances put them here,” he said.

Nxumalo’s idea was to getEXCO members to to see first hand and understand the magnitude of the problem at Albert Park. He addressed the masses of mostly young people in Zulu trying to establish whether they had ID documents, had finished school and were ready for rehabilitation.

During the visit a youngster approached the mayor claiming to be ANC provincial spokesman, Jackson Mthembu’s son. The young man was taken to the ANC provinical offices but later ran away before receiving further assistance.

After touring the area, EXCO members interacted with many of the homeless people and some residents from Albert Park. The official EXCO meeting was postponed as an urgent strategy was needed to address the problems in Albert Park.

“Most of them are young people between the ages of 14 and 35. What started as a small problem has escalated and will escalate further if nothing is done. We need to arrest the problem as soon as possible,” said Nxumalo.

The mayor suggested that a Task Team be established, from various departments to holistically deal with the issues faced by the people living in the park.

The Task Team will be led by the Deputy City Manager of Community and Emergency Services, Dr Musa Gumede and has been mandated to identify the issues and coordinate all relevant departments and stakeholders to assist in dealing with social challenges in Albert Park.

“Our aim is to also deal with the issue of integrating these people with their families, we don’t want to see vagrants loitering and sleeping under brindges in our city,” he added.

Non-Governmental Organisations operating in the area, such as the Albert Park Community Crime Prevention Association, South African Peace Network and others who were part of the tour have pledged to assist the initiative. Nxumalo said they want the intervention to be effective and sustainable.

“We have already identified possible solutions to the problem. We are looking at resuscitating the Children’s Centre which will be well resourced with social workers who will be employed by the municipality. The opportunities provided by Expanded Public Works Programme will also be explored to assist us in providing them with jobs and sustainable livelihoods,” said Nxumalo.

Depuy Mayor Nomvuso Shabalala also expressed her surprise that the people living in the park were not just foreigners as she had earlier assumed.

City manager, Sibusiso Sithole, who was also at the park, told Berea Mail, the dire situation at the park was “almost self inflicted pain” and a societal problem that could be attributed to the break down of family structure. “Most of them were also failed by the school system, I don’t understand how any child would choose to live like this, so we have to help them,” he said.

Sithole, said this initiative formed part of the Clean My City Programme which addressed the social ills in the community.

“There are already structures in place to deal with the problems at Albert Park. Last year we launched the Qalakabusha Programme to facilitate the rehabilitation of drug-addicts and vagrants and to integrate them back to their respective communities. In the process we profiled 354 people and got a better understanding of who these people are, where they come from and how they can be assisted. The existing structure will form part of the task team to come up with a multi disciplinary approach to fight crime, drugs and vagrancy in Albert Park,” said Sithole.

The task team is expected to report to EXCO on their implementation plan and recommendations.