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.]