Linmeyer CPF find dumped ARVs

LINMEYER – When Linmeyer Community Policing Forum (CPF) coordinator Don Hooper conducted the daily security check that he and his officers conduct regularly on the infamous Linmeyer koppie, he was prepared for anything.

And when Don stumbled onto a batch of Anti-retroviral treatment tablets dumped recklessly just below the koppie on the morning of December 6, his first reaction was to remove the tablets out of children’s reach. The tablets included a number of Vipla Naviripine 200mg, Cipla – Lamivudine, Aspen tenofivir, Tenovir Winthrop 300mg.

The routine security checks of the koppie are done daily as the koppie is sometimes used as a surveillance point by criminals who target the homes nearby. They can therefore confirm that the ARV treatment tablets were not there the day before.

According to the Linmeyer CPF, children and other residents use the pass through the koppie on Luise and Gretel streets when making their way to the Southern Suburbs pool and other areas nearby.

“I found the ARVs dumped here in a pile and I collected them all and put them into a plastic bag. Who knows what would’ve happened if a group of teenagers had found these pills first?” said a concerned Don.

The HIV/Aids treatment tablets lay there untagged with a patient’s name, which made the CPF officers suspect that the tablets may have been stolen for illegal purposes.

In recent months, the illegal sale of ARV treatment tablets by Government officials to patients and other buyers have been a regular feature in the news and the tablets are also reported to be used by drug users as the main ingredient, together with Rattex, to make the dangerous drug called woonga.

An officer at an HIV/Aids facility, Touch of Care, in the south, Julson Mkandla, expressed disappointment at the news of misused ARV treatment tablets found dumped. As their organisation has in excess of 350 southerners who are taking treatment, he said the country cannot afford to have such important medication disposed of recklessly.

“I’m very concerned because these drugs are expensive for the Government to provide for free and then there are people who misuse them recklessly. This really shows that some people are ill-disciplined and uncaring about those in need. I believe that the people who dumped the drugs tried to sell them, but when they couldn’t, they decided to dump them,” said a worried Mr Mkandla.

He also revealed that, not long ago, he found out about corrupt officials who had been taking ARV treatment and selling it to patients and drug dealers, and when he confronted them, a wrath of anger came his way from the officials.

He reports that he would get calls from anonymous people threatening him and calling him derogatory names to a point where it caused him so much stress, he suffered a stroke. Although he has recovered and is doing well, the blatant misuse of ARV treatment drugs is something that causes Touch of Care great concern, especially in the light of the national shortage of treatment.

The Linmeyer CPF officers report that although many criminal incidents have been reported to the police where the criminals were found to be using the Linmeyer koppie as their scouting and hiding point, the koppie has not yet been secured from easy access. The Linmeyer koppie is also the location where two teenagers were brutally murdered by their friends in a reported satanic ritual. The charred spot where the ritual was performed, is a constant reminder to the patrollers.

“Church people hold services here and sometimes perform baptismal ceremonies, in one such ceremony, a stark naked woman was seen being baptised in full view of passers-by. Children could also see what was happening,” added Don.

The biggest concern of the Linmeyer CPF is that although church people do not pose a danger to residents, the criminals who hide in the koppies and watch the residents in their homes before robbing them, is what troubles them. The solution they suggest to officials would be to close the koppie off with a palisade fence to keep unsavoury characters away.