Substance abuse prevention remains key in fighting crime

The recently released crime statistics offer little and in most instances no comfort to winning the war against crime.

SAPS figures indicate that 60 per cent of crimes such as murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny/theft, serious motor vehicle offenses with dangerous consequences, arson and hate crimes were related to substance abuse.

In as much as communities can resort to putting the blame squarely on government, equally crime prevention initiatives need active community involvement to realise a safer place to work, live and walk the streets of Gauteng without fear of intimidation.

A study by Christian and Drug Support, a non-government organisation, revealed some disturbing statistics on drug consumption where South Africa is said to be at 15 per cent of people with a drug problem, resulting in an economic impact of R20 billion a year.

Communities must lead with activism in the fight against substance abuse, particularly nyaope that continues to rip the nation apart. That being said, we need not turn a blind eye in our law enforcers. The Gauteng Department of Community Safety conducts regular substance abuse road shows in an attempt to educate communities on dangers of drugs and alcohol. During interactions with communities, allegations are levelled against law enforcement agencies that police know were the drugs are sold but do not act decisively. In instances where police are said to arrest the dealers, the next day they walk the streets of Gauteng freely after the court has struck the cases off the roll.

In 2004 the SA Narcotics Bureau (SANAB), a dedicated drug-fighting unit within the SAPS that had achieved some notable successes, was disbanded. Since its closure, drug-related crimes have increased exponentially. Seeing that drugs and alcohol abuse are often a contributory factor in heinous crime, perhaps it calls for the Gazette for reinstatement of the unit.

Among other things, youths have been cited to contributing substantially in drug abuse, gangsterism and involvement in other crimes. It has been argued that in many instances, the lack of programmes to keep the youth busy is problematic; some youths end up falling into the trap of engaging in criminal activities. One of the resolutions arising from the recently convened Safety Indaba is to come up with programmes and projects for the youth as a deterrent to involve in crime, such as awareness campaigns, youth izimbizo and safety desks at school level.

We need to strengthen the existing local drug committees and establish more where none exist, to run regular awareness campaigns to conscientise those that are still unaware of the dangers of using Nyaope. The program can also act as referrals to those already affected.

Let’s all stand together and blow the whistle on drug lords, peddlers, pushers, users and everyone involved in this hideous criminal activity.

Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane, MEC for Community Safety in Gauteng