Enough of drugs on city’s streets
Members and supporters of the DA Limpopo protested outside the Polokwane magistrate's court on Tuesday, where five people were due to appear on charges in connection with drug dealing and the possession of illegal firearms.
POLOKWANE – Members and supporters of the DA Limpopo protested outside the Polokwane magistrate’s court on Tuesday, where five people were due to appear on charges in connection with drug dealing and the possession of illegal firearms.
Katlego Phala, DA provincial spokesperson, social development officer and member of legislature, led the protest outside the courthouse with protesters holding placards aloft with slogans such as ‘No Bail for Dealers’ and ‘No to Drugs’.
“The DA is here to say enough is enough! We boldly stand against the sale of illicit drugs, and more importantly we stand up for individuals and families who have suffered and continue to be affected by drug abuse,” Phala said.
She said Limpopo was not coping with providing enough support to those who were trying to access rehabilitation centres.
“Those in power are deliberately holding back the truth from us.
“Why do they (government) not tell us that while they have opened the Seshego Treatment Centre, the centres in Musina and Phalaborwa were shutdown? The social development department needs to tell us why it has failed to pay the salaries and funds of nurses, administrators and auxiliary workers,” Phala continued.
She said as a result of all these closures, there was an from as far as the Waterberg and Mopani districts had to travel to Polokwane for assistance. She also said the Polokwane centre was now under siege and short staffed with very few social workers to help with ever-increasing demand by addicts wanting to get helped.
“The DA cannot understand why our leadership, amidst these challenges, is shocked about the current state of affairs and continues to underspend its budget allocation in this regard,” she said.
Phala said drugs were not only an individual issue but also a social issue and needed society’s effort to clampdown on drug abuse.
“The criminal justice systsystem needs to send a strong message. As with this case, we are protesting against drug dealers and drugs in our society, sending the message that we are a society with zero-tolerance to drugs,” Phala said in conclusion.
Regarding the centres that had been shutdown in Phalaborwa and Musina, social development spokesperson, Adéle van der Linde said there had never been such centres in those towns, not to mention Limpopo. She said if such centres did exist, then they were private treatment institutions and not governmental. She further said the Seshego Treatment Centre,
which will be completed within this year, will be the first of its kind in Limpopo. She said the department was working in collaboration with South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence. Van der Linde further said if out-patients needed to be treated, they were being outsourced to other provinces and not in Limpopo because of the fact that her department currently did not have any such treatment or rehabilitation facilities around Limpopo, until the Seshego Treatment Centre is completed.
According to a Polokwane police spokesperson, Const Tsietsi Lamola, the suspects were released on R500 bail each and the case was postponed to August 27 for further investigations.
Five suspected drug dealers appear in Polokwane court
