Parliamentarians debated robust measures to curtail the drug epidemic in South Africa on the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. 

The United Nations General Assembly in 1987 decided to observe June 26 as an expression of its determination to strengthen action and cooperation to achieve the goal of an international society free of drug abuse. 

Alcohol abuse is a complex socio-economic issue that requires a multi-stakeholder and integrated approach towards a drug-free society, captured in the National Drug Master Plan. 

ANC MP Keamotseng Ramaila said cartels are motivated by financial greed, with many individuals who have been destroyed by drug abuse.

Ramaila said tragedies were unfolding in homes and shattered the very foundation of family life. 

“Children in these households face neglect and abuse throughout their lives, compromising emotional and mental health. It is a heartbreaking picture. We should stand together, irrespective of political parties, to fight and combat the drug trade.” 

Visvin Reddy, uMkhonto weSizwe MP, called for the establishment of a national drug unit that must be independent and comprise local police structures.

Reddy stated that the unit should have the ability to raid, seize, and arrest quickly, effectively, and fiercely.  

He said rehabilitation is supposed to bring hope, but too often, it has become a failure, underfunded and disconnected from reality. 

“There must be a ring-fenced and dedicated budget for rehabilitation services. We must lead this charge not just in words, but through daily measurable action.” 

According to Reddy, drugs were tearing up communities and had tightened their grip on homes, children, and our future. 

He also spoke of Phoenix resident, Lincoln Moodley, 24, who was arrested and charged with the alleged murder of Kamatchie Naicker and the attempted murder of his 63-year-old mother, Shirley Appalsamy.

“This incident shook me to the core. I visited Appalsamy and her throat was slit because her assailant wanted to take out her chain. The perpetrator of this was not somebody unknown. A child that she once cradled, now consumed by addiction, turned into a monster. What kind of darkness and poison is this that corrupts so deeply that family becomes foe?” he said. 

He also touched on incidents in Cape Town and Eldorado Park, Johannesburg. 

“In Chatsworth, a mother had no choice but to chain her son to a bed just to keep him from stealing and using drugs again. When my children were growing up, my wife and I prayed every day that they would never come into contact with drugs because when that substance enters your home, peace will leave,” Reddy added. 

Paulnita Marais, EFF MP,  exposed South Africa’s broken response to addiction and demanded urgent, humane action.

Marais called out the government’s failure to fund and coordinate community-level interventions, revealing that only 46% of municipalities have Local Drug Action Committees as required by law.

She slammed the defunding of vital rehabilitation services — over 246 state-funded beds lost in Gauteng alone, while private rehab remains unaffordable for the poor.

“With only eight public in-patient centres across six provinces, South Africans battling addiction are being left to die in silence,” she said. 

zainul.dawood@inl.co.za

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