Mthunzi Vilakazi Foundation has engaged with the eMalahleni Municipality and South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (Sanca) and they hosted a substance abuse awareness campaign at Evangelical Church in Clewer on May 7 to help the people who are under the influence of drugs. People came in large numbers to this expo to gather information and help. In the proceedings of the event the Director of Mthunzi Vilakazi, Brian said as the foundation they saw a vital need to help the community to deal with this issue of substance abuse that is damaging the youth, hence they have called upon all the relevant stakeholders to come and engage with the community so that they could help the people who are suffering from substance abuse. Brian says it’s no longer safe in the community; people are being mugged almost every day.
“We have invited all these stakeholders today to help us in finding the solutions on how we can help our brothers and sisters from these drugs that they are using, we want to show them that we are not judging, but we are supporting them and we will try by all means to help them,” said Mr Vilakazi.
Brian further told WITBANK NEWS that as the Foundation they have arranged with Sanca to take at least a few of these addicts for treatment so that they could get their lives back on track and be better people. The community believes that the only way of dealing with drugs is to get people who are selling. 
“This is a great initiative, but to tell the truth, we need to find the people who are selling these drugs to our children and deal with them because it is painful to see a child being scattered all over the place, busy harassing people, mugging them just to get something to feed their habits. Therefore all I’m trying to say is that we can host workshops, community meetings, awareness campaigns, but as long as we haven’t find the person who is selling this poison to our children, our efforts are meaningless. As the community we need to work together to save our vulnerable children,” said Trudy Sanaxhala Mavimbela.
Thembinkosi Singwane, the social work supervisor from Sanca Witbank says substance abuse/drug abuse is a complex problem of not only individuals, but also of the entire community in Emalahleni which unfortunately affects the entire system such as crime, community disorder, families, poverty, and gender-based violence. Therefore he encourages people to not die in silence, but to seek for help. He further said people must feel free to come to Sanca for consultations or treatment because as Sanca have nurses and doctors who are well-trained to help to deal with any medical issues which might arise due to any drug use and they offer treatment on a continuum of care from screening, assessment, medical treatment and treatment for services, users and families as well as aftercare services. People can contact them at the main office: 013 656 2370/1, Cell phone main office 064 798 4478, Cell phone Delmas: 072 459 6552, Cell phone Middelburg: 066 345 0549 or Email: sancawitbank@telkomsa.net / supervisor.sancawitbank@gmail.com Share your news tips via: Telephone: 013 656 2490 WhatsApp: 076 334 4118 Email: wtbnews@mweb.co.za Or follow us on WITBANK NEWS platforms: 
