Community shaken by drugs
Seven people have died in Eersterust last week, mostly of drug-related causes.
Andrea Küsel
Seven youngsters lost their lives in apparent drug-related deaths in Eersterust last week.
The Eersterust local drug action committee said although the signs pointed to drugs being the culprit in these cases, many parents deny this hurting fact.
“Even if we know that these people died from drug-related causes, the families are in denial,” said chairperson of the committee, Desiree Fisher, adding two of the deceased were school-children, the rest in their 20s.
Fisher said drug-abuse was a humanitarian issue in Eersterust, especially for parents.
“For parents it’s heartbreaking to know that your kid is on drugs.”
She added it was not the only community in Pretoria with the problem.
“Drugs are a problem all over. You just hear about it more in Eersterust because we are a united community. We are a very active community and we help [each other] where we can.”
Fisher said drug dealers in Eersterust were defiant and had no respect for the community.
Even though statistics have shown that drug-related crimes have actually dropped in Eersterust, this remains a problem in the community.
From April two years ago to March last year, 430 drug-related crimes were reported at the Eersterust police station, which were 58 cases less than the previous year.
President Jacob Zuma visited the area in August last year, during an imbizo to address drug- and substance-abuse after the committee asked for his help in the community’s fight against drug syndicates, drugs and substance abuse.
Since then, a few interventions have been suggested. These included the community-based anti-crime partners working with the police to create awareness against drugs and crime, school visits to deliver the anti-drug message, police visibility and stop and search operations.
Fisher said although Zuma’s visit was a positive gesture, it did not make a big difference.
“The government can only do so much. Police are trying to make an effort but they don’t have enough manpower to efficiently fight drugs,” she said, adding that drug dealers had become very sophisticated, making it hard to track them down.
“We will have to make an effort between government, the community and parents if we want to get rid of substance abuse,” she said.
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