On average, the centre deals with an estimated dozen young people every week who desperately seek help to quit the drug habit. Some of the young people who come to the Palm Ridge Sanca outlet for drug addiction are as young as 15.
According to the centre’s public relations officer, Ntombi Nkosi, the outlet provides an eight-week “cleansing” programme which is followed by a “graduation” ceremony to celebrate those who complete the course. “It is not a difficult course and we encourage them to endure till the end of the eight-week treatment”, she said.
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“During treatment, the centre monitors the progress of the young addicts and one of the biggest issues we face is the relapsing of some of the addicts. This is often due to peer pressure and a lack of support from their families as well as from the communities they come from,” said the centre’s head and senior social worker, Zandile Mathebula
(See editor’s comment on Page 2)
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