In a quest to address the problem of drug abuse especially among young people the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) recently partnered with South African National Council of Alcoholism (SANCA) to train 520 learners in the Western Cape as Peer Counsellors.
The young people, who come from different communities including Mitchell’s Plein, Khayelitsha, Bellville, Athlone and Paarl, will be responsible for assisting learners in the early stages of drug use or abuse for professional counselling as well as running on-going awareness and prevention campaigns in schools and during holidays.
It is anticipated that each Peer Counsellor will reach and refer at least six learners who are battling substance abuse every six months to SANCA for a follow up assessment and treatment.
According to the NYDA Executive Chairperson Yershen Pillay, “The challenge of drug abuse affects us directly as the NYDA especially considering statistics which indicate that 58% of drug abusers are youth. This issue cannot be addressed without the involvement of young people; if young people themselves do not take up the fight against substance abuse then we have already lost the battle.”
This partnership between the NYDA and SANCA has allowed for 520 peer counsellors in 26 schools in the Western Cape and 180 peer counsellors in 9 schools in the Northern Cape to be trained. A further 28 young people were trained as ambassadors for substance abuse campaigns in Hammanskraal where the drug nyaope is crippling the lives of many young people.
Recent reports reveal that drug abuse in South Africa is twice the world norm and that drug use is responsible for crime, domestic violence, gangsterism, and a range of other social problems the country is facing. This is even made worse by the emergence of local drugs such as nyaope/whoonga and kubar. In Cape Town alone crystal methamphetamine, known locally as “tik”, remains dominant while whoonga has taken townships throughout the country by storm.
Studies, particularly among rural populations and those associated with wine farms in the Western Cape, have demonstrated that upwards of 50 per 1000 (5%) of school-entry children have Foetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorders (FASD).
In four disadvantaged communities in Gauteng (Diepsloot, Lenasia South, Westbury and Soweto the rate of FASD is 26.5 per 1000 children (2.6%). The situation is extreme in two populations in the Northern Cape Province (De Aar and Upington), where the FASD prevalence rates exceed 100 per 1000 (10%) and 70 per 1000 (7%), respectively.
The South African government therefore recognises that the drug problem is complex and requires decisive and collective national action. Given the seriousness of the situation, it has convened an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Substance Abuse and placed the response to substance abuse as the core mandate of the Central Drug Authority (CDA).
Government and its partners like the NYDA are also implementing the Anti-Substance National Plan of Action, which is a collective effort towards a South Africa that is free of drug abuse. The plan focusses on enabling policy and legislation, supply reduction, demand reduction, harm reduction and strengthening the role of civil society in this struggle.
The Department of Social Development is the lead government department responsible for implementing the National Drug Master Plan, which serves as a blue print of national action and directs programmes to stamp out drug abuse and deal with associated challenges.
This Youth Month the key message that the government, through the NYDA and other government department, has been driving is ‘Working Together for Youth Development and a Drug Free South Africa’.
Additional to the partnership with SANCA, the NYDA also runs the SAB ‘You Decide’ campaign, a comprehensive drive which seeks to tackle the scourge of underage drinking in the country. ‘You Decide’ is designed to demonstrate to teens that the choices they make now can impact on their future positively or negatively. It tackles the four key influencers of a teenager: peers, teachers, communities, parents as well as the individual teens themselves.
“We expect each of the trained peer counsellors to reach approximately six learners with substance abuse problems every six months and refer them to the nearest SANCA branch for a follow-up assessments and treatment. While we acknowledge that much more needs to be done in the fight against substance abuse, we hope this initiative will start a movement in alleviating the scourge that currently faces Western Cape communities and families,” says Pillay.
For media enquiries contact:
Linda Mbongwa
Cell: 082 315 3217
Tel: 011 651 7053/
Email: Linda.Mbongwa@nyda.gov.za
