River Park gets new drug treatment centre

City of Johannesburg officials and the Alexandra community gathered to celebrate the opening of the River Park Community Based Substance Abuse Treatment Centre on 23 August.

The centre is the fourth of five treatment centres opened by the City of Johannesburg and forms part of the City’s Health and Social Development Department’s strategy to combat substance abuse. The department has adopted a community-based model as advocated for in Chapter 5 of the Prevention of and Treatment for Substance Abuse Act.

This model advocates for medical services within the community environment in a registered facility.

Ward 81 councillor Irene Rugheimer said that she was very happy that the local community would receive the assistance through the new centre.

MMC for Health and Social Development Dr Mpho Phalatse spoke about her journey from medicine, as a doctor at the Alexandra Clinic, to politics. She said, “Alexandra is very close to my heart. After my work at Masakhane and moving into the world of politics, I promise that I would never forget the Alex community.”

She added that she was extremely happy to be adding River Park clinic to the community facilities.

Phalatse outlined the City of Johannesburg’s strategy to fight drug addiction in local communities through a three-step programme that focuses on supply reduction by targeting the sources and dealers with the help of the Metro police; demand reduction by focusing on community development through partnerships with the private sector, and harm reduction to fight the spread of drugs in local communities.

The audience listened to a heart-wrenching account from former drug addict and local resident Edgar Lebepe who spoke about his struggles with drugs. He said, “I finished my matric and was preparing to further my education but my drug addiction prevented that. I am now a better person since I’ve left drugs.”

Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg celebrated the opening of the clinic and responded to Lebepe’s story by offering a donation to help the young man further his studies.

Mashaba said, “We want our residents to move away from drugs. Drugs are killing our children, they are killing our youth and preventing them from living productive lives.”

He added that he was extremely happy and optimistic about the opening of the clinic.