Chairperson, hon members, exactly 32 years ago on 16 June 1976, Mbuyisa Makhubo ran down the streets of Soweto carrying a mortally wounded Hector Pieterson. The students of Belle Higher Primary, Phefeni Junior Secondary, Morris Isaacson High, Orlando West High and Naledi High, faced and overcame the might of the apartheid state.
Today, in South Africa, our young people face a different set of socioeconomic challenges ranging from education to unemployment, the scourge of HIV/Aids and crime and violence that has beset our nation. Among these challenges is a growing substance abuse epidemic that has permeated the lives of all in our society, from the wealthiest to the poorest.
The Prevention of and Treatment for Substance Abuse Bill aims to take the combating of substance abuse to a higher level. In as much as we have declared war against poverty, we have now also declared war against drug use and abuse. The Prevention and Treatment of Drug Dependency Act, Act 59 of 1992, was drawn up for another country - a country facing a drug threat that was restricted to certain sectors of society and the population.
The nature of the drug problem has evolved since then. According to the 2007 World Drugs Report, some 5% of the world's population between the ages of 14 and 64, use illicit drugs each year. This translates into 200 million people in their prime. The annual value of the illegal drug trade is estimated at US$322 billion.
Our borders have opened up to the rest of the world since 1992, and with that came the onslaught of drugs, unprecedented in the history of this country. Just last week, drugs worth about R7,3 million were seized at the O R Tambo International Airport. This included 17kg of cocaine and almost 50 000 ecstasy tablets. Last month the Central Drug Authority outlined the nature of this threat.
With almost a third of our population having an alcohol problem and with drugs such as tik flooding our townships, our communities are under siege. Today we face a substance abuse problem that tears at the very fabric of our society. It has been estimated that up to 60% of crimes committed are related to drug or substance abuse. The Northern Cape town of De Aar has the highest rate of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, FAS, in the world. Over one in 10 babies are severely affected in their first year and almost 50% of children suffer from some effect of FAS throughout their developmental years. The cost to our society is enormous.
The 52nd conference of the ANC in Polokwane recognised this threat and called for a co-ordinated national drug campaign to be intensified to fight substance abuse. This Bill is a response to this crisis and it has its genesis in the National Drug Master Plan 2006-11. The Bill encompasses a full range of interventions and strategies to combat substance abuse.
The objects of this Act are: To combat substance abuse in a co-ordinated manner; to provide for the registration and establishment of all programmes and services, including community-based services and those provided in treatment centres and halfway houses; to create conditions and procedures for the admission and release of persons to or from treatment centres; to provide prevention, early intervention, treatment, reintegration and after care services to deter the onset of and mitigate the impact of substance abuse; to establish a Central Drug Authority, CDA, to monitor and oversee the implementation of the National Drug Master Plan, NDMP; to promote a collaborative approach amongst government departments and other stakeholders involved in combating substance abuse; and to provide for the registration, establishment, deregistration and disestablishment of halfway houses and treatment centres.
The Bill rests on three pillars, namely, supply reduction, which is aimed at stopping the illicit production and consumption of drugs through law enforcement; demand reduction, which focuses on discouraging the use and abuse of substances through prevention and early intervention services; and harm reduction, which is aimed at mitigating the social, health and psychological consequences of drugs through treatment. South Africa does not support all the methods of harm reduction such as the needle exchange programmes.
The success in combating substance abuse and striving towards a drug-free society is linked to and dependent on a comprehensive response by all departments and organs of civil society. The Bill commits all key departments, individually and severally and within the scope of their line function and available resources, to adopt a multifaceted and integrated approach to enhancing co-ordination and co-operation in the fight against the scourge of drugs. Amongst other things, it commits Cabinet to adopting and ensuring the effective implementation of the NDMP. The CDA brings all these together at national, provincial and local level.
The CDA is a statutory body consisting of members of government, the private sector and civil society with the key responsibility to co-ordinate efforts towards combating substance abuse and to advise government on appropriate measures to combat substance abuse. The CDA also has an obligation to report to Parliament on its effectiveness and research.
Whilst the CDA would have liked to see itself as a juristic person, it has adequate powers to fulfil its function at this stage. Nevertheless, the CDA has been exemplary in its work. I must thank its members for their essential role in the combating of substance abuse. The CDA has been instrumental in shedding light on the nature of the drug problem in South Africa. Through the CDA's evidence-based approach to research we have discovered the prevalence of substance abuse, particularly alcohol, in an increasing number of our children and more significantly its spread to an ever-younger age group.
The CDA will oversee the monitoring and implementation of the NDMP and ensure compliance. This structure will be replicated in different forms at provincial and local levels of government so that we can collectively take the fight against substance abuse back to our communities.
There is an explicit need for the CDA to be more active and prominent at provincial and local levels of government. Therefore, the delegation to provincial MECs on social development to establish provincial substance abuse forums is welcomed. We call on the provincial government, local municipalities and community organisations to support these structures and become active champions against substance abuse.
Substance abuse affects all of us at each and every level, hence the need for community-based services. These services rendered by nongovernmental organisations must target children and the youth, people with disabilities, older persons, families and communities in both rural and urban areas. The special needs of children who are affected and involved in drugs have also been given special attention. Demand and harm reduction are the main priorities of the Department of Social Development.
Again, the Bill recognises the critical role of various other departments in efforts to provide early intervention services to affected communities. This will ensure that those who have not started using drugs are prevented from experimenting with drugs; families and those who need treatment receive the necessary interventions; and those who have been rehabilitated are successfully reintegrated into their communities.
Through this Bill, we envisage the stricter control of treatment centres that are mushrooming and are often used as money-making tools, sometimes with a high incidence of violation of human rights of service users. We further provide for the establishment of new treatment centres and better management of existing government treatment centres.
At present there are only five government-run institutions in four of the provinces providing treatment and rehabilitation services, whilst there are 80 privately registered institutions. There is a need to have at least one government institution in each and every province to ensure access to services for disadvantaged communities. All these facilities must have outpatient services and outreach programmes to ensure access of services for the communities.
In line with our Constitution, it is imperative that the principles guiding the provision of all services uphold our constitutional values in that they are provided in an environment that recognises the educational, social, cultural, economic and physical needs of such persons.
They need to ensure access to information regarding the prevention of substance abuse and the must promote the prevention of exploitation of such persons. They must promote respect for the person, human dignity and privacy of service users and persons affected by substance abuse. They must prevent stigmatisation against service users. They must promote the participation of service users and person affected by substance abuse in decision-making processes regarding their needs and requirements.
They must recognise the special needs of people with disabilities - They must ensure that services are available and accessible to all service users, including women, children, older persons and persons with disabilities without any preference or discrimination. They must also ensure that service users are accepted as human beings in need of help and with the potential to change.
They must co-ordinate the educational needs of children with the relevant education department and strive to render effective, efficient, relevant, prompt and sustainable services. They must ensure that services are appropriate to the ages of children and the youth. This will ensure that the rights of those who have fallen victim to substance abuse are affirmed and that they are brought back to being productive members of society. [Time expired.]
Order! Hon Minister, you have run out of time. I can adjust your response time if you need some time to round off.
No, I don't need any more time. Thank you. [Applause.]
Chairperson, hon members, I rise in support of this Bill. And let me commence by commending the Minister for introducing this Bill. It is one of the key legislative measures that he has introduced, which are all significant for social transformation.
The World Drug Report 2006, states that the problem of illicit drug use worldwide has been contained at 5%. The problem drug-users, namely the substance dependants, make up 0,6%. The latter, according to the Central Drug Authority, suffer from a syndrome at the centre of which is impaired control or loss of control over a behaviour which leads to significant harm.
Because harm occurs, plans have to be devised to limit or eradicate the harm. This, in practical terms, calls for a supply, demand and harm reduction strategy that lies at the heart of the struggle against drug and alcohol use, abuse and dependence, hence the introduction of this Bill.
The ANC at its Polokwane Conference in December last year, as the Minister indicated, adopted a resolution calling for a co-ordinated, national anti- drug campaign to fight substance abuse.
Cannabis, which is commonly known as dagga in this country, used alone or in combination with other drugs, is the second most common drug of choice after alcohol and the most commonly used illicit drug in South Africa. The UN Office on Drug Control estimates the total number of users of cannabis in South Africa in all its forms at 8,4%. This is more than twice the 4% accepted as the global norm and much higher than previous reports had indicated.
Use of opiates, mainly heroin, is approximately 0,3% compared with 0,4% globally. Heroin use, however, we are informed, is rising in South Africa with 7% of those undergoing treatment reporting heroin as their primary drug of choice in 2005 as against 1% in 1996.
South Africa has a cocaine user population of about 0,8% compared to the global usage estimated at 0,3%. This indicates a sharp rise in cocaine as a primary drug of choice. Demand increased from 1,5% in 1996 to 8,5% in 2005.
South African users of amphetamines and ecstasy combined, as the CDA's report indicates, constitute 0,8%, with methamphetamine or tik being the primary drug of choice for many patients. This is approximately 98% in the Cape Town area in particular while methcathinone or cat, is increasingly being used in the Gauteng area as the equivalent of tik.
Treatment for mandrax dependence has declined in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Gauteng but has increased by 81% in Durban, and there are indications of increased usage of nyaope, which is a mixture of dagga and heroin, in Tshwane, as the report states. So more work for the MPs will come from Tshwane.
And, finally, over-the-counter or prescription medications have become the primary drug of choice of between 25% and 61% of all patients admitted for treatment at treatment centres.
The problem of substance abuse is increasingly manifesting itself in schools, sports and cultural sectors. It is there in the workplace. And, sadly, some of our highly skilled professionals such as lawyers, accountants and even members of the medical or health professions are reported to have fallen victim to the problem.
Our portfolio committee, last year, in anticipation of this Bill, visited three of the provinces which are affected the most. We started with a visit to the Sultan Bahu Community-based Treatment Centre in Mitchells Plain in the Western Cape, then went to Gauteng and ended with a visit to the often- talked-about Noupoort Christian Care Centre in the Northern Cape.
The experiences we had in talking to counsellors at the various treatment centres, government officials and, more importantly, the many young people undergoing treatment, were overwhelming. It is clear to us that success in the fight against substance abuse will only be realised through the collective effort of all concerned.
All government departments, particularly those directly involved - we have 18 government departments and agencies that are part of the Central Drug Authority - the private sector and civil society, the family, the community and, in particular, young people generally, because they are most at risk, must all be involved.
The committee, in considering the Bill, came to the conclusion that it was lacking in a number of fundamental respects and hence made substantial changes to it.
Firstly, some of the key concepts used in the Bill were either not defined or explained in the body of the legislation and the committee felt it was critical to ensure that there was common understanding of what they meant, especially given the divergent policy perspectives within this sector.
The Minister, for example, alluded earlier to certain harm reduction methods which this country has not yet found acceptable such as the needle exchange programme. In this regard, the committee also decided that terms such as "addict" should be avoided to remove labelling and stigmatisation, which the committee found unhelpful in addressing the problem.
The Bill introduces concepts such as "community-based services", which are well-known in practice but are not provided for in the current legislation. It, however, said very little as to what these services entailed and the details of the regulatory framework it sought to impose on them. Here the committee called for a complete rewrite of chapters, such as Chapter 4, which has become the new Chapter 5 in the Bill, dealing with the issue of community-based services.
The committee spent some time amending Chapter 2 of the Bill, which deals with the fundamental question of combating substance abuse, which it felt was not articulate enough on the subject.
The difficulty here is that whereas the Central Drug Authority and the National Drug Master Plan, NDMP, were introduced into the current legislation in 1999 to fill the integration and co-ordination void, the fundamental point was missed, both in the current legislation and in the Bill, namely that it is, first and foremost, the responsibility of all Ministers whose departments are represented on the CDA, individually and collectively, and in a complementary and co-ordinated manner, to combat substance abuse. [Time expired.] Thank you. The ANC supports this Bill. [Applause.]
Chairperson, hon Minister and members, substance abuse is a growing and horrifying reality of our world today, whoever we are, and wherever we live. Substance abuse is not just limited to rich celebrities sniffing coke. It extends to poor people selling antiretrovirals to be crushed and inhaled, and to babies born with fetal alcohol syndrome.
The effects of substance abuse are not just felt by the users themselves, but by their families, who are often robbed of their pensions, their salaries and any saleable goods in the house that can be sold to feed the user's habits. The community at large is also affected by gangsters who deal in drugs in the schools and on the streets, making them unsafe and uncontrollable.
There are many initiatives to curb and eliminate this dreadful scourge, and we salute the NPOs, such as the Hesketh King Treatment Centre, the Sultan Bahu Outpatient Treatment Centre, the SA National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Sanca, and many others that take substance abusers into their care and try and restore them to be productive members of our communities.
However, the buck actually stops with government. The Department of Safety and Security is responsible for policing our streets and arresting drug dealers - not always successfully. The Department of Education must make sure that our schools are drug- and alcohol-free. The South African Revenue Service, Sars, must ensure that drugs do not enter our borders, etc. However, it is in fact the Department of Social Development which is left to pick up the pieces when all the other measures have failed.
The Department of Health is very protective, and rightly so, of its role in detoxification. It is responsible for all the medical aspects surrounding substance abuse and it has insisted on keeping that role. Whether, of course, it has adequate facilities and qualified medical staff to deal effectively with this ever-increasing problem is another matter altogether.
Social Development is responsible for integrating recovered substances abusers into their families and communities, but it has to work in collaboration and co-operation with all other affected government departments as well. Without this concerted approach on behalf of all government departments, nothing will be achieved, and we will not be able to deal appropriately or effectively with substance abuse.
While it can be argued that we need different pieces of legislation to deal with the different aspects of substance abuse, this is in fact the only one that will deal with the social issues around substance abuse.
While it is essential that all treatment centres established for the treatment and rehabilitation of service users who abuse or are dependent on substances are registered and monitored in order to protect the human rights, dignity and wellbeing of substance abusers, the same applies to halfway houses.
The DA commends the emphasis on skills development in all the treatment and rehabilitation programmes in order to facilitate the reintegration of substance abusers into society.
The first draft of the Bill was so badly drafted and muddled in concept it had to be completely rewritten. For example, in the original Bill, different rules apply to public and private treatment centres. This is totally unacceptable as it is often the state or public treatment centres that are the worst offenders when they should be setting the example. All treatment centres must now comply with the same basic conditions, regardless of whether they are public or private.
Huge pressure has been put on the portfolio committee to pass this Bill today before Parliament rises at the end of June. The result before us is a better version of the Bill, but one which is by no means complete and will probably have to be amended by the new Parliament. This is a shame, as given more time, we would probably have produced a more comprehensive and substantial piece of legislation that would do justice to the immense problem of substance abuse facing our country. However, we believe that the Bill is a small step in the right direction.
I would like to commend my dear friend and colleague, Stuart Farrow, who is also taking a small step in the right direction. After 30 years of being a really habitual smoker, he has given up for the last ten days and I commend him on that. [Applause.]
The DA supports the passing of the Prevention of and Treatment for Substance Abuse Bill. [Applause.]
Chairperson, Minister and colleagues, I have to admit that until I read quite a bit of research documentation on substance abuse, I had no idea of the magnitude of the problem facing us or the prevalence of substance abuse among children and adolescents. Before dealing with some aspects of the Bill, I would like to share some of this information with you.
A 2006 study showed that 25,95% male students in Grade 8 had abused alcohol in the preceding 30 days, and 17,2% had abused cannabis. Furthermore, the current ever-increasing use of cheap, readily available drugs such as tik has increased between 2003 and 2004 from 21 patients to 376, and here I'm using patients to demonstrate the trebling of the patient load within a period of only six months.
We understand that these percentages have continued to increase dramatically. In a country where we have a high level of criminality, it has been established that six out of every 10 arrestees in Cape Town - and this is in 2000 - tested positive for illegal drugs. Subsequent studies in three metros confirmed the connection between substance abuse and crime.
These horrific statistics are supplied by the alcohol and drug abuse research units of the MRC, Medical Research Council, and they demonstrate, even to lay people like myself, the huge problem we have to acknowledge.
Most of these studies had been conducted in the Western Cape. However, we have to understand that all provinces throughout our country are affected, albeit to a lesser degree. You heard from both the Minister and the chairman of the portfolio committee how our societies are affected at all levels - the poor, the rich, everyone can be subjected to abuse.
The MRC has offered us constructive guidance on to how to address this huge problem. We believe that this Bill, if fully implemented -and we've just heard from the previous speaker that it again needs more attention - provides the framework for a constructive engagement, in particular with our youth, not only in terms of rehabilitation and prevention, but also reduction of risky behaviour.
We need to appreciate that in the very first sentence of the memorandum on the objects of the Bill, it is stated, and I quote:
A concerted effort is required from the three tiers of government and civil society to strive towards a drug-free society.
Before anything else, we need to create community awareness campaigns and particularly address the youth via the churches, schools and their own organisations. [Time expired.] Thank you.
Chair, hon Minister, hon members, like many other countries in the world, South Africa has been experiencing unprecedented levels of substance abuse among its people. Abuse of substances, including alcohol, has a significant negative social and economic impact on society and this Bill specifically responds to the need for a multisectoral co-ordinated effort by all three tiers of government and civil society to combat substance abuse.
Substance abuse disorders, much like HIV/Aids or diabetes, require social approaches to prevention and treatment, as well as medication and clinical interventions. The biological nature of substance abuse and the changes caused in the brain also make it, for most people, a chronic relapsing disorder.
Interventions for the treatment and prevention of substance abuse must therefore take this into consideration. Of course, substance dependence isn't something people suddenly catch, and early intervention is of critical importance.
The Bill provides for the registration of programmes, including treatment centres and halfway houses; for admission and release of persons from treatment centres; for early intervention, treatment and reintegration; and establishes a central drug authority which acts in an advisory capacity and monitors the implementation of the National Drug Master Plan.
This very important piece of legislation has passed through Parliament at an accelerated pace, with the portfolio committee and the department working late into the night and the early hours of the morning for weeks on end.
The ACDP sincerely hopes that this rushed but earnest attempt to address the concerns of stakeholders will go some way in responding to the challenges faced, as statistics on substance abuse continue to shock the nation and the consequences devastate lives and families.
The MRC studies show that in 2002, 45% of all non-natural deaths had high blood alcohol concentrations, particularly for transport-related deaths and homicides, and trauma patients follow the same trends. Tik, the new drug of choice for increasing numbers, has frighteningly fast addiction rates. Over 60% of all the patients treated in the second half of 2004 who used tik as their primary substance of abuse were under twenty years of age.
During hearings, one organisation working on the ground said that presently the floodgates had opened as drug cartels are operating with impunity owing to the controversy over the Scorpions and their disbandment. The ACDP will vote in favour of this Bill.
Hon Chairperson, hon members, thank you for the opportunity to address this House on the occasion of the second reading of the Prevention of and Treatment for Substance Abuse Bill, which comes before the National Assembly at an opportune time.
During the month of June we have been paying tribute to the youth of Soweto of 1976. From then on, throughout the 1980s, children and youth bargained with their lives so that children could have better lives in the future. Today children and the youth have many opportunities. They no longer have to feel discriminated against on the basis of skin colour. Their rights are guaranteed by the Constitution, and government is fully committed to enabling every child to develop to her or his full potential.
However, one of the biggest threats to our children and youth achieving their full potential is the scourge of drug and alcohol abuse, which works against all present efforts to maximise human development. The International Day Against Substance Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on 26 June compels us to focus on the need to combat this scourge through awareness-raising, prevention, early intervention, treatment and aftercare programmes.
Every year, on 26 June, the relevant government departments, in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and an increasing number of faith and community-based organisations concerned with combating this scourge, have been coming together under the banner of the National Anti- Drug Awareness Programme, branded Ke Moja, which means ``No thanks, I'm fine without drugs''.
This past year, the National Youth Commission took the lead in establishing and chairing the Ke Moja steering committee to ensure that youth-centred sustainable programmes sponsored by the Departments of Arts and Culture, Sport and Recreation, Education and Health and some civil society organisations are promoted, that role models from all walks of life are identified and made Ke Moja ambassadors, and that the antidrug message is spread effectively at a national level and to every corner of South Africa.
In 2004 I noted with some despair that drug abuse was no longer the pastime of the idle rich, who could afford to book themselves into private rehabilitation centres. It became evident, particularly in Cape Town, that a drug described as the most dangerous drug in the world in a documentary on DSTV, had hit the streets in the poorest areas. It was cheaper than any other drug and targeted primary school children and adults alike.
The scientific name for this drug is methamphetamine. The local name is tik. Recipes for its manufacture could be found on the Internet, embedded in children's comic texts, and its ingredients could be bought over the counter. There seemed not to be a family which was not affected. One hit was enough to cause addiction. Communities already affected by unemployment and poverty became affected by brutal murders committed by young people; young girls roamed the streets, unable to sleep at night, and the rate of teenage pregnancies and tik babies rocketed.
The scale of the problem made it clear that intervention was needed as soon as possible. Those medical experts who knew all about cocaine, heroin, mandrax and cannabis could not initially tell us much about these new drugs called tik, sugars, etc. The local names kept changing, and even some of the ingredients, but they had in common the addition of chemicals such as ephedrine, rat poison, drain cleaner and lithium or battery acid. These are ingredients that may even be added to the home-brew in the townships, when clients complain that they want the home-brew to be like whisky.
I am encouraged to know that the Medicines Control Council is in the process of restricting the over-the-counter sale of ephedrine, an ingredient found in many cold medicines. In the future, more will have to be done to monitor and control the availability of the other chemical precursors mentioned.
The SA Police Service's report entitled, ``Crime situation in South Africa'' indicates that between 2002 and 2006, a 72% increase in drug- related crimes was recorded. The widespread availability of drugs and drug use in our country is a cause for concern.
I am proud to say that since 2004 we have had numerous workshops, consultative conferences and national events that have convinced our stakeholders that we need to broaden our approach to be able to intervene effectively to prevent our youth and children from experimenting with these fatal drugs.
We have renewed the National Drug Master Plan, and reappointed the Central Drugs Committee whose task it is to synthesise the many plans for each department into a co-ordinated national plan and to monitor the implementation of the National Drug Master Plan at all levels of government.
As the Minister has said, our mandate as the ANC-led government was renewed in Polokwane last year when the national conference of the ANC adopted the resolution to intensify a co-ordinated antidrug campaign. It must be noted that the current Prevention and Treatment of Drug Dependency Act, Act 20 of 1992, has become outdated and is focused primarily on institutional treatment.
Treatment services are not equally available and accessible to all citizens, and are unaffordable for the major part of the population that requires this service. It is furthermore a fact that we can never have sufficient institutions to meet the ever-growing demand for treatment of substance abuse. Prevention has been found to be the most effective approach to reducing the demand for substances internationally. However, the current Act makes very little provision for prevention and for community-based and out-patient services.
The successful implementation of this Bill requires the commitment of all sectors of government, the private sector and organs of civil society to work together to ensure that this Bill becomes effective in combating substance abuse. We commend our law enforcement agencies for their successes in curbing the supply of substances. Departments such as Safety and Security, Education, Health, Sport and Recreation, Arts and Culture, Provincial and Local Government and the National Youth Commission and others will play a critical role and must collaborate in the provision of integrated prevention, early intervention, treatment and reintegration services and programmes.
The Bill makes provision for the establishment of programmes for the prevention of substance abuse. It will enable us to give particular attention to interventions that target young people with a view to equipping them with the necessary skills to resist the urge to experiment with drugs. The Bill provides for the establishment and registration of community-based services, specifically for prevention and early intervention services. These will also improve accessibility to treatment and services, not only for vulnerable persons, but also for those affected by the addiction to drugs and alcohol, in other words, family members.
This is a significant shift from the traditional approach to treatment, in that it recognises the vital role of family, friends and the community in substance abuse interventions. The Bill further provides for the establishment of at least one public treatment centre in each province, as well as the establishment of private centres. It will ensure equitable distribution across the country.
The provision of halfway houses is in recognition of the fact that out- patient services are more cost-effective. Interestingly, this was corroborated by the outcomes of an international symposium on substance abuse and treatment that was held here in Cape Town in April. The Bill establishes conditions for the registration of treatment centres. This move is long overdue, because some centres have been plagued by controversy and allegations of human rights violations. This will not only ensure the quality of services, but will allow for proper monitoring and evaluation and ensure compliance as well as international benchmarking.
The Bill gives recognition to the fact that more and more young people are becoming addicted to substances. Hence, the Bill provides for the treatment of children in facilities.
This Bill is consistent with the human rights enshrined in the Constitution and other pieces of legislation, as it protects the rights of both voluntary and involuntary service users. The implementation of the recruitment and retention strategy for social workers and other social service professionals is part of the strategy to enhance our capacity to effectively implement these tactics.
Chapter 10 of this Bill makes provision for the establishment of the Central Drug Authority and the executive committee and its composition. Of importance is that the Bill also provides for the management and functions of the CDA, provincial substance abuse forums and local drug action committees. This will bring about co-ordination between various sectors in their endeavour to combat the scourge of drug abuse. In conclusion, I wish to thank all the members of the portfolio committee and the various organisations for their assistance in shaping this Bill. I would also like to thank the officials of the Department of Social Development who, together with the portfolio committee, worked until midnight for many days in the recent past. I would also like to thank the other departments for their hard work and persistence over this period. Thank you. [Applause.]
Chairperson, hon Minister, it is unfortunate that addiction to substances starts at an early age and finds it victims in all walks of life, all ages and all types. The market of drug peddling is lucrative, inducing more people into its use and its sale.
We are, indeed, shocked and appalled at the recent incident of a teacher selling drugs to students. But when we look closer, we hear even more shocking and disturbing patterns of abuse, where parents and children engage in the use of substances together. We have to sit back and ask what causes one to do this, and thousands of excuses will surface.
As Parliament, we have a duty to rescue our people from this and to make the use of substances illegal. The appreciation for life has deteriorated and the serious effects of substance abuse have been ignored.
The provisions for halfway houses and rehabilitation centres are crucial to the prevention and deterrence of substance abuse, as well as the reintroduction of victims of substance abuse into our communities.
We need to encourage our communities to be supportive of these victims. And, most of all, to assist in smoking out those involved in the sale of substances so that we may remove them from society and live peacefully knowing that our children and families are safe from their clutches.
The MF believes that the Central Drug Authority will play a pivotal role in the reduction of substance abuse and in completely stamping out these abuses from our communities.
We need to intensify awareness about the realities of substance abuse, the lives it has claimed and the lives it has destroyed by having victims of substance abuse visit communities and schools. The MF fully supports the Prevention of and Treatment for Substance Abuse Bill. I thank you, sir.
Chairperson, hon Minister, Deputy Minister and members, the pain and suffering of families with members suffering from substance abuse require a strong response from the state with effective intervention services to stand with our families and our communities in the fight against substance abuse. The Bill must be seen to make a difference in the processes towards changing the lives of those affected by substance abuse. The institutional preparedness in leading the service user to a point of recovery and individual governance is essential, and government ought to assist such centres to function the best they can.
The Bill puts the preservation of the family as central to supporting persons affected by substance abuse. We want to support this 100%. The FD has always valued the role of the family in building strong and functional societies.
The Bill highlights aspects like developing parental skills, creating awareness around substance abuse and empowering communities to be proactive. In preserving the family, we must also look at why families are not always able to play a reasonable role in protecting our nation's children.
Substance abuse can be contained if we have a comprehensive government plan, like the one our state has, involving all departments and other stakeholders such as churches and NGOs together to fight the entrance points which allow these addictive substances to permeate our society.
Families are powerless when it comes to tackling the violent culture involving such substances. The FD believes that to effectively contain substance abuse the sting of violence associated with addictive substances must be removed.
We support any aid that is made available to centres committed to helping those affected by substance abuse. The FD, therefore, supports this Bill. I thank you.
Hon Chair, the disadvantage of being the second last speaker is that everything you need to say has already been said.
First of all, let me try and agree with what the Minister said, namely that indeed drugs are becoming a serious problem in South Africa, but also South Africa is becoming a gateway for drugs to some of the African countries. And that in itself is becoming a problem for all of us.
But there is one experience that I need to share: As the Chair indicated, when we visited the institutions on different occasions there was a young girl aged seven who was already dependant on drugs.
One of the questions we asked ourselves was, why? When I come back to her story later you will understand that the ages of experimentation with drugs are indeed dropping and that is a worrying aspect. But also the trade of drugs is becoming even more complicated, because at this moment everything in your kitchen can be changed into a drug, from your cleaning products, to what we drink, to the basic medicines as the Deputy Minister said. One of the most interesting things I learnt as I discussed some issues with young people was that as we expose them to science, they also become experimental as well. So they are able to really concoct many drugs for their day-to-day use.
I would then like to take this opportunity to link the Bill to a number of issues. One of the areas is the need for collaboration because unless departments work together, this Bill will remain meaningless because the Bill requires each and every department to work together.
The Department of Education needs to keep drugs out of schools. The Department of Health needs to facilitate access to detoxing and all related services. And, unless we have that collaboration and we develop programmes that are meaningful, we would continue to really look at this Bill or it would just become a statute on our Statute Book.
What we have introduced in the Bill, which is a phenomenon for the portfolio committee that I have served on, I must say, is some of the guiding principles. I hope, hon Minister, that the officials will take it very seriously; not only those from Social Development, but all the other departments. The departments need to understand that each and every programme they are developing to deal with the issue of the treatment of substance abuse, should also take into consideration the prescriptions that we have.
We introduced community-based services and I hope that our traditional leaders and our traditional healers at a very local level, especially in our rural communities, will be partnering with the department to make the early interventions services a reality, or else they will remain another programme that we would like to introduce.
It was very clear during the public hearings that we need more research into the use of drugs. This became especially clear when the Department of Sport and Recreation was presenting evidence. It became very clear that we need to allocate more resources to be able to respond to the issue of drugs.
With regard to the relationship to HIV/Aids, as the Minister clearly indicated, we still have a dialogue as South Africa that we need to enter into. We also need to find a way of responding to the challenges of harm reduction, especially with regard to exchanging needles because that is one of the areas where we need to do more work.
The relationship of substance abuse with poverty is a serious one and I would like to give an example. If you look at the issue of sex workers, we would have to find a way because for them to do what they do, they rely on drugs. And, unless we do something about their particular situation, we are going to sit with a problem of dealing with this using the wrong approach. We need to deal with issues of easy access to drugs, especially in our own communities.
We need to deal with the issue of the impact of drugs on children. When I spoke about the seven-year-old, one of the key things was that her mother is lying sick at home. She is seven years old and she is already taking care of the three-month-old baby.
She ended up finding hope in the street as a sex worker. And the only way she was going to cope was to be on drugs. If we could deal with poverty as we have committed ourselves to do, I can rest assured that we will be able to respond to the issue of substance abuse.
What was also interesting during the public hearings was the questions that were asked about other addictive behaviours that are harmful. As a portfolio committee we had to take a decision to say no, at this particular moment we are only looking at what goes into the body that is not helpful.
The Minister spoke at length about issues of disability which I won't speak about except to say that we need more programmes for pregnant women, especially prevention programmes. I hope that as anticipated in the Bill they will definitely be implemented, especially in partnership with the Department of Health, at the antenatal clinics so that early intervention can be done and we can minimise the birth of children with fetal alcohol syndrome, because those children become disabled. Therefore, the functioning of and access to services becomes a limitation.
As we move to Youth Month, allow me to say that the Deputy Speaker has already spoken about the Ke Moja programme. I think I wanted to say to young people that it's important as a young person that when that time comes, when the walk or the living becomes very difficult, they should look back. And one of the things that came out clearly was that a lot of service- users rely at that time of need on their inner strength which is their cultural and spiritual values.
We stressed as the portfolio committee that the programmes to be implemented must respond to and respect the cultural, religious and traditional values of that particular community, because half the time we come into communities as government and implement programmes that don't necessarily respect or take into consideration how that particular community feels about drugs.
So, we're saying that the programmes must take into consideration how that community responds to drugs and also alcohol, even the home-brewed alcohol like all the traditional beers that we drink.
I just want to leave you with this quote that I came across when I was reading. It is especially relevant for a lot of our service users out there. And when I read this I thought about this Bill. It says:
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate; our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous.
Actually, for young people during Youth Month, you must now ask, why not? We are born to make manifest the glory that is within us. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. And I would like to say, "Ke Moja, I'm fine without drugs!" I thank you. [Applause.]
Hon Deputy Speaker, I stand here to thank this House for the support and co-ordination that it has provided for us and the portfolio committee in order to ensure that this Bill is passed. Quite obviously, the Bill couldn't answer all the questions that ought to have been asked and answered, so I would agree with hon Mars and hon Semple that there is a need for more work to be done on this Bill in the next Parliament. For all those that will be here, I think that one of the first things that they must do is to look at the question of the crisis that we are going through in South Africa at present with this new stage of drugs amongst our people and within our communities.
This Bill offers us the opportunity to open up a new front against the onslaught of drugs in our society. The battle for a drug-free society lies at the heart of the kind of democracy that we are striving to build. Working together, our three-pronged approach will not only make us forceful in combating substance abuse, but will also secure the future of our nation and the best way to do that is to strengthen our families and community.
Whenever you leave home to come to Parliament or to work, you must be sure that your family is firm and strong. Look after your children; when they go to these parties make sure that they don't get themselves involved in drugs. Most of them will be doing so innocently because somebody might put a tablet in their drink and they find themselves in a situation that they had not planned.
The issue that arises is our roles individually as parents and as grandparents to ensure that our families are strong and that our communities remain as tight as they can be. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the portfolio committee and the management and all members of the Department of Social Development for their work and co- operation that they have shown over this period. Once again thank you, your Excellency, and all of you for all the good work that you have done.
That concludes the debate. Are there any objections to the Bill being read a second time? No objections, agreed to. The secretary will read the Bill a second time. The Bill will be sent to the NCOP for concurrence.
Debate concluded.
Bill read a second time.