JOHANNESBURG – Drug abuse, particularly nyaope, should not be overlooked to reflect young males only; young females are also not immune to the abuse of this drug.
Girls often suffer serious consequences to this abuse which often leads to rapes, human trafficking and prostitution to feed the endemic. This is a vicious disease that eats away lives, dreams and future of the youth and consequent to premature births, miscarriages and dropping out of school because of the side effects it has on the users.
Nyaope is a very addictive concoction and many addicts blame the first puff they had. The unfortunate part of the addiction is that nyaope users are associated with crimes such as theft, burglaries and common robberies, all of which they commit to feed their cravings. Such acts anger communities and embark in mob justices, beating the addicts severely or even to death.
Unimaginable as it may sound, it is true that people do survive drug addiction particularly of nyaope that is rife in the country. Many recovering young girls say they resorted to prostitution just to feed the cravings. Though prostitution is financially viable, these young girls remained committed to end the trade.
Drug abuse is everyone’s responsibility; therefore, we need to play a societal role by reporting drug peddlers who sell the disease to our fellows. Parents, former addicts, NGOs, businessmen, political parties, churches, celebrities and government formations need to come on board and make the fight against drug abuse a priority. Imagine Gauteng being a safe place free of drugs, where children can grow, live, play and learn.
We applaud a concerned parent from Eldorado Park who wrote to the President about the rampant scourge of drugs in the area. More and more parents need to take an active role to secure the future of young people.
Just a few months ago the Gauteng Department of Community Safety held two anti-drugs camps. The camps selected 100 men and 100 girls from the Gauteng Department of Social Development’s database of young people who have been in rehabilitation, all of who are recovering addicts, to expose them to life skills and survival skills without drugs. This is a symbol that having joint efforts to fight drug abuse proves to be prosperous.
In order to ensure that these young people do not relapse, it is for these reasons that after undergoing a rehabilitation programme, the Department enrolled them to NYDA to learn skills such as public speaking, computer etc. in return they will be used to motivate others on the school safety programmes in the department.
Community Safety commends all individuals, private entities, the media, NGOs, government departments and other government formations that play a considerable and selfless role in the fight against drugs and also encourage young people to be the winds of change by joining community formations such as Community Policing Forum, Patrollers, Men as Safety Promoters and Youth Desks to intensify a safer Guateng that is free of drugs.
Akhona Mata, Department of Community Safety
