Activist argue that legislation around the criminalisation of drug use is outdated and requires a humanitarian revisit.
Image for illustrative purposes. Picture: iStock
Less than one in six people prosecuted for drug-related crimes in the last three years have gone on to be convicted.
Additionally, just under half of drug-related cases enrolled by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in the last three years have been withdrawn.
A group promoting the decriminalisation of drug use and possession for personal use have since called for a shift in the way drug use is viewed by the legal system.
The stats on drug-related prosecutions were presented by the justice and constitutional development ministry in a written response to a parliamentary question.
The data showed that 87 867 cases were enrolled by the NPA for drug-related offences in the last three financial years.
Of the over 80 000 enrolments, only 13 234 cases resulted in a successful prosecution.
The ministry stated that 41 524 drug-related cases had been withdrawn in the same period.
The Western Cape accounted for a quarter of the withdrawn cases – 23 125.
However, only 602 were discharged under section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act, which deals, in part, with the prosecution’s duty to provide sufficient evidence.
Drug quantities ‘trivial’
The justice ministry stated that the NPA did not keep stats on arrests or the reason for the withdrawals, as that was the role of the South African Police Service (Saps).
Commenting on cases relating to the Western Cape, the police ministry, in its own written parliamentary response, addressed why arrests did not translate into convictions.
“No cases were withdrawn as a result of poor investigative work, incomplete dockets, failure to appear in court, or any other lapses on the part of the Saps.
“The dockets were withdrawn by prosecutors on the basis that, in their opinion, the quantities of drugs involved rendered the matters trivial,” the police ministry stated.
Multiple activist groups pushing for the decriminalisation of drug use and possession recently united under one banner: Vusubuntu Coalition.
Charne Roberts from the South African Network of People who Use Drugs (Sanpud) stated the coalition’s purpose was to advocate for a more humanitarian stance towards recreational drug use.
“People who use drugs are our sons and daughters, parents, partners, friends and neighbours. They deserve care, compassion and the chance to live healthy and meaningful lives.
“The coalition brings people together to build solutions that strengthen families, protect human rights and create safer and more inclusive communities,” Roberts explained.
Sale and trafficking should ‘remain serious crimes’
Vusubuntu stressed that decriminalisation did not equal legalisation, nor did the coalition advocate for “drugs on shop shelves”, but wanted drug-use treated as a social matter.
“The supply, trafficking and sale of drugs, especially to children, should remain serious crimes,” the coalition stated.
Lawyers for Human Rights representative Nyeleti Baloyi argued that South Africa had a constitutional duty to address drug laws that were legislated in a racialised context.
“The Constitution requires that laws which infringe privacy, dignity, equality and access to healthcare be revisited.
“Decriminalisation of personal use is the logical extension of the Constitutional Court’s jurisprudence,” stated Baloyi.
Vusubuntu spokesperson Charity Monareng also questioned whether existing laws were still fit for purpose.
“Criminalisation was intended to protect society. The evidence shows it has not: people are not safer, communities are not healthier, and children are not better protected.
“The alternative is not doing nothing, it is adopting a more effective response that protects families, restores dignity, and allows criminal-justice resources to focus on violent and predatory crime that causes the greatest harm,” Monareng concluded.
