DA marches against drugs

Democratic Alliance (DA) recently took to the streets to hand over a memorandum at the Vosman Police Station.

The anti-drug march was held on Wednesday, March 20 and was led by Jane Sithole, leader of the DA in Mpumalanga.

The DA wants the police to intensify efforts in dealing with drugs and crime in the area.

They were accompanied by the residents of Emalahleni, and together with other interested and affected parties call for the station commander to intensify efforts in dealing with drugs and related crimes which has plagued the community.

They say Mpumalanga is ideally located for the passage of drugs because it is bordered by both Mozambique and Swaziland and South African provinces such as Gauteng, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal.

“As such, we too in eMalahleni suffer as a result of crime that is escalating; the drug related crimes in eMalahleni and Vosman are exceptionally high and continually increasing. Being a notorious route for the passage and distribution of drugs, many in towns along the N4 such as eMalahleni and Vosman suffer from drug abuse, drug related crimes and also crime syndicates. During 2014 to 2018 drug related crimes detected as a result of police action increased from 288 to 316 cases in the Vosman precinct and from 286 to 457 cases in city precinct during the same periods. Station commander, what about those related crimes which are not detected? Alongside the number of crimes reported and also burglaries in the area, it is clear that the strategy currently deployed by the SAPS to deal with the passage of drugs, the use of drugs and the related crimes is not working.”

DA also hinted that during the end of 2017 the city experienced house burglaries of 6.8 a day or 2 476 a year.

They believed that these are the types of crimes which are fuelled by a need for drugs alongside high unemployment.

They say that crime in eMalahleni can be attributed to the passage of drugs such as nyaope, rock, pinch and cat.

They stated that these are the type of crimes which affect the community in eMalahleni together with the increasing murder rates, sexual offences and stock theft.

“Emalahleni is said to have the second highest drug abuse rate in South Africa, and Vosman is the worst precinct affected by drug related crimes. Nationally, eMalahleni was among the top ten of worst precincts with 9 034 reported cases of serious crimes in 2017/18. Provincially Witbank and Vosman are within the top five worst precincts at 2018, at number one and number four worst precincts respectively. The number of reported crimes in these two precincts for 2018 was just over 30 000. Our women and children are at the mercy of drug users and drug dealers and the related gangs and often the victims of crimes such as sexual assault. During 2018 and in these two precincts there were 275 sexual assault cases which were reported,” added the statement in the memorandum.

DA pointed out that the drug problem has filtered schools and affecting the young because drug dealers are now targeting school children.

SANCA reports shows that in eMalahleni the amount of children affected by drugs is increasing drastically from two children in 2016/17 to over 48 in the 2017/18 financial year.

The number is only looking at those who have gone through SANCA and there are many who are just lost in the streets and never make it to rehab.

DA demanded that The South African Police Service establishes a specialised narcotics unit to deter and prosecute drug related offenders and SAPS intensifies its fight against drugs in eMalahleni and Vosman and ensure that offenders are dealt with swiftly.

They also demanded searches in schools.

The memorandum was received by Lieutenant Moses Maepa, acting station commander of Vosman Police Station and he was given 14 working days to respond positively to their demands.

Failure to do so will lead to intensification of their demonstrations.