Project supports the parents of drug addicts

Holistic Synergy hosted a stakeholders’ meeting for Community Unite Project (C.U.P) at Rabasotho Customer Care Centre on October 18.

Several stakeholders were invited to the meeting, including Tembisa Taxi Association, Tembisa Agriforum, faith-based organisations, parents and the ward committees, to name a few.

Ward committee Enock Zulu said this workshop was made possible by Micah Mkhabela, who approached the councillor of ward seven about the problem of drug abuse within the community.

“In this case, we have parents who feel the pain of having a child who is a drug addict,” said Zulu.

Lebogang Maubane, founder and chairperson of Holistic Synergy, said C.U.P is a project that was developed while working with young people with drug addiction.

“Through working with these young addicts, we realised that their parents were much affected by their children’s addiction, and yet no support of any sort was offered to them,” said Maubane.

“Holistic Synergy created C.U.P to support these parents, by inviting relevant stakeholders to give them much-needed support.

“Through our preparatory meetings, we’ve discovered that the justice system, as well as the Prevention of and Treatment for Substance Abuse Act (No. 70 of 2008) has left parents and the stakeholders, who would like to help resolve this pandemic, feeling helpless.

“For one, drug rehabilitation centres don’t have the right to keep a recovering addict from leaving the centre, even before the treatment is completed, and this is according to the Act,” said Maubane.

One of the parents, Lizzie Mashitisho, said they really need help to get their children rehabilitated and given proper services.

“As parents, we fail to have a wink of sleep at night not knowing where our children are. The problem is that when they are home you worry about losing your possessions, but you still worry when they go outside.

“My child went to rehab several times but never finished the process. The issue with rehabs is that there’s too much red tape in the admission process and they grant the addicts permission to leave before they are fully rehabilitated,” said Mashitisho.

Issac Mathebula, of Makukhanye Alcohol and Drug Centre, said the rehabilitation centres have a mandate to understand the patients’ health first before fully admitting them; hence, there is the long process of seeking medical certificates from patients.

“When someone is admitted, we have to make sure that their health conditions do not clash with our medications and rehabilitation methods,” said Mathebula.