The police continue diligently in their zero tolerance policy towards drugs and Witbank Magistrate’s Court books are filled with drug related cases that are seeing convictions. Organisations such as the South African National Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse (SANCA) as well as local organisations such as Extreme Buddies are dealing with the emotional fallout of addicts and their families. The beast that is the drug industry is being tackled from all the angles, yet it seems to be growing bigger.
There are some trends that can be observed from the arrests the police made last week. Out of the 10 cases, six of the arrests were made downtown. Two of those arrests were made at the taxi rank in the Central Business District (CBD).
Two arrests from last week were made in Plumer Street. Many of the drug related arrests were apparently made during the middle of the day. One arrest was made at 15:00 in Klarinet while another was made at 11:30 at the taxi rank. An on-foot patrolman from Witbank SAPS approached a group of men. He asked to search them and one of the suspects apparently had 10 pinches of drugs wrapped in a plastic bag. The street value was estimated to be about R800. The suspect was arrested for dealing in drugs. Several others were apparently also arrested for possession.
The two arrests that were made in Plumer Street were both made at night and another arrest, that was made at about 22:00 on March 7, was made in Sturdee Street.
According to Crimestatessa.co.za, which is an archive for crime statistics in South Africa, drug related crimes in 2014 for the eMalahleni precinct were 284 cases. However in 2013 the total was 240 cases and in 2012 only 144 cases were handled. eMalahleni was not the city with the biggest numbers however. Apparently Nelspruit had a total of 334 drug related cases for 2014.
The drug problem is not isolated to individual cities and potentially has an affect in the entire province. Recently police arrested a 38-year-old Malawi woman when she was found with approximately R1.2-million worth of drugs. The arrest was made at Komatipoort on Saturday, March 7 when authorities pulled over a taxi travelling from Mozambique.
The K9 Unit detected the substances in a suitcase that belonged to the suspect.
SANCA deals with the rehabilitation of addicted persons and according to a 2009 report available on their website 1223 people walked through their doors seeking help with additions in Mpumalanga alone. SANCA is heavily focused on dealing with alcohol addiction which according to the report is the number one most common substance that leads people to struggle with addiction. Since alcohol is not illegal, these numbers are not reflected in the crime statistics.
There is help to be found if you are addicted to drugs or alcohol. Contact South SANCA for more assistance from their national office on 011 892 3829 or the eMalahleni branch on 013 656 2370.
If you would like to report a possible drug related crime or any crime for that matter contact the national crime line by SMSing your tip off to 32211.
