‘Healing walk’ reclaims Wentworth from drug lords

IN a suburb overshadowed by drug dealers, more than 800 Wentworth residents took to the street on Saturday, 19 July in a bid to reclaim their lives, their community and their sense of pride.

Local organisation, Communities Building Credible Organisation (CBCO) hosted a ‘healing walk’ through Wentworth, stopping at 19 spots identified as drug dealing hot spots. The group of community members and parishioners walked for more than four hours, stopping to hear testimonies from rehabilitated drug users and church leaders and to pray.

“The purpose of the walk was to expose the hot spots and the drug lords and to let them know the community will no longer lie down and accept this. We are tired of burying our dead due to drugs and drug-related crimes,” said CBCO member and pastor from the International Assembly of God, John Bailey.

Wentworth resident and South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) co-ordinator, Desmond D’Sa echoes Pastor Bailey’s words and calls for community members to report drug dealers. “Many people take money from these drug dealers and we urge them to put aside this illicit financial gain for the sake of the children in our community,” said D’Sa.

The pastors from St Gabriels Anglican Church, Harvest Christian Ministries, Christ King Roman Catholic Parish and Powerhouse Ministries, among others, have committed to assisting the community by proving support to drug users in need of rehabilitation and by passing on leads to police, handed to them by the community in collection boxes at the churches.

“We will continue to strive to find solutions in partnership with the police and other organisations to the drug scourge in our community and call upon people to report these crimes to the police. Without information, they will not be able to find and deal with these criminals,” said Pastor Bailey.

For information on this or to set up talks on drug issues in the community, call Desmond D’Sa on 083-982-6939 or Pastor Bailey on 082-572-7042.