Mom warns of Westenburg drug hell

Sixteen years of being held captive by her son’s abuse of various drugs has forced Westenburg resident Lydia van Rooyen to speak out against the use of substances by youngsters in her neighbourhood, occurring in broad daylight at a time when they are supposed to be in school.
Discovering a group of teenage boys who were locked out of the school yard last Monday engaged in smoking dagga in school uniform a block away from the Police station early morning, solicited response from community members in support of her actions. In an attempt to highlight the detriment they were facing by denying themselves a future because of drug abuse, Van Rooyen said she had warned the boys against destroying their lives and that education was the key to the future. An overwhelming whiff of the substance was hanging in the air at the time, she remarked. Upon meeting other members from the community thereafter, they expressed their concern and told her that they already raised the issue with the culprits that morning.
She said the situation had repeated itself on Friday morning when the same kids noticed her inquisitiveness and left their usual spot, on the corner of John Smit and Winter Streets in Westenburg, before heading to the river nearby. Upon her return from work at around lunchtime that day, she yet again saw them emerging from the bush with their backpacks as they made their way home, she said.
The children’s conduct was cause for major heartache, she explained, as she had been through a bad spell as a parent in the past due to her son’s addiction to about six different drugs – including heroine, nyaope, rock and dagga – while still at school. “My own child’s life was destroyed by drugs.” She pointed out that it had started with him getting addicted while still at school and lying about the disappearance of household items allegedly sold for drug money. He had to drop out of Grade 10 and could not go study further. After obtaining a court interdict preventing him from displaying aggressive behaviour towards her husband and further breaking the furniture three years ago, they ended up on the South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence’s (Sanca) threshold. Following Sanca intervention he had now, at the age of 33, managed to get back on his feet by having created opportunities for carpentry commissions, according to Van Rooyen
She advised parents to check up on their children’s whereabouts and assess their school books, to determine whether they were actually attending school or possibly loitering elsewhere. Parents should wake up to the dangers faced by their kids, she emphasised. According to her drugs are freely available in the neighbourhood and she can’t grasp why the Police do not close in on the culprits, as is the case elsewhere. “The community should start standing together for the Police to clamp down on drug houses,” she said, mentioning houses in the RDP section and Egoli. Rock and nyaope are seemingly most popular, while dagga is the biggest reason for concern as it is most accessible. She concluded saying that Westenburg’s drug problem has persisted for the past 30 years.
Her outcry comes a mere two months after Polokwane Observer was castigated for publishing an exposé depicting, among others, teenage boys in school uniform smoking hubbly bubbly on the streets of Westenburg in broad daylight. Van Rooyen confirmed that she approached the newspaper without having read the earlier article.
Westenburg Police spokesperson Mohlaka Mashiane said they were not aware of the particular identified hotspot, but indicated he would pass on the information to members to follow up on the allegations. Since the beginning of the year they had thus far raided eight schools within the policing area on request of or information provided by school management, but did not find any substances in possession of learners during those unannounced visits. Turning to the alleged abuse of drugs in Westenburg seemingly mainly involving youngsters between 18 and 33 years, Mashiane said daily arrests took place only on the streets and not on school premises. He invited the community to inform the Police or the governing body of a specific school concerned of suspicious actions to jointly address the problem.
He added that they welcomed information on drug houses operating in Westenburg in order for them to clean up the area. He gave the undertaking that all information would be treated confidentially.

Story: YOLANDE NEL
>>observer.yolande@gmail.com

Photo: Lydia van Rooyen.