Cape Town dubbed ‘drinking capital of SA’

Cape Town has been dubbed the “drinking capital” of the country, with a study by the Department of Health finding that more than 50 percent of its people consume alcohol – and that a third of this group abuse it.

“Alcohol consumption generally leads to violence, which can be stressful, as well as people turning to alcohol when they are stressed,” said Joanne Corrigall, senior public specialist with the department.

“Access to alcohol is so easy and readily available.”

A beer cost the same as a cool drink, Corrigall said.

The study, carried out earlier this year, also found that alcohol abuse among schoolchildren was a much bigger problem than drugs.

About 66 percent of pupils in the Western Cape in Grades 8 to 10 drank alcohol. Of them, a quarter admitted to binge drinking two weeks before the study took place.

“It was fascinating to note that only 2 percent of the pupils who participated admitted to using tik,” Corrigall said.

Officials said violence, mental health problems and HIV/Aids were all part of a cycle driving more than half of Cape Town’s population to drink.

“There are a few major factors that contribute to people drinking,” Corrigall said. “Everywhere you go, alcohol is advertised without pointing out the real dangers of irresponsible consumption.”

Corrigall said there were about 300 alcohol-related deaths a month in South Africa.

Beyond the warnings about drinking and driving and drinking during pregnancy, people were not aware how serious the problem was. “If there was more advertising around it, maybe people would drink more responsibly.”

Corrigall, who is also the producer and director of Booza TV, a series about the effects of drinking, said the problem was prevalent not only among adults, but also among high school children, as the study had shown.

The department met representatives of non-governmental organisations on Tuesday to discuss ways of curbing alcohol abuse and making people aware of its risks.

South Africa is ranked third on the list of countries with the highest rates of alcohol consumption.

Corrigall said the department was looking for ways of intervening to turn the tide.

- Cape Times

Cape drinking by-laws eased... even before being tightened

The city’s decision to ease its liquor by-law has been welcomed by some councillors, but others said the decision would effectively make Cape Town the “drunk capital of the world”.

Mayor Patricia de Lille told Wednesday’s council meeting about the difficulty of keeping the balance between “many social pressures, business concerns, individual rights and governmental responsibilities”.

She said the by-law distinguished between sale and consumption, forbidding only sales after 2am. “However, it realises that some areas are recognised social spots with minimal disruptive potential,” said De Lille.

The amended version of the by-law fixed many irregularities and inconsistencies. “It allows for champagne breakfasts. It allows for winetasting. It allows for a rangLinke of activities that were unnecessarily excluded. It regularises trade… It will allow for enforceability where there are social disruptions and it will allow for a degree of preventing the kind of excess that allows for abuse.”

“The state does not have a right to intervene in people’s personal lives… However, it does have the responsibility to intervene where there is harm. I do not believe we should be under any illusions about the harm that alcohol abuse causes in our society,” said De Lille.(from IOL)

Our Mayor said that?! How about applying that to smoking cannabis maybe....? Or any of the other drugs which have haven't caused any deaths or lasting damage. Interesting how the mayor doesn't go into what the real damage caused by alcohol is and how many deaths it is implicated in.

Cape cops’ R12bn drug haul

Western Cape police have seized drugs valued at almost R12 billion since April 2010, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg.

This was the sombre revelation by Western Cape police commissioner Arno Lamoer during briefings by all provincial commissioners on crime statistics at Parliament on Wednesday.

Lamoer told the police committee the drugs trade was contributing hugely to crime figures and that the Western Cape was seen as the province that used drugs the most.

“Addicts steal to feed their habit. The province is also a huge destination for people. Eight million came through the airport between January and December last year.

“Every single day we confiscate drugs,” he said, adding that drugs worth more than R50m had been confiscated from buses in one week in January when drug routes into the province were blocked.

“The violent crime and the gangsterism in the Western Cape are all linked to one thing – drugs. If we can stop the drugs, crime will come down radically, and people will be safe.”

Community Safety MEC Dan Plato said on Thursday: “Looking at that R12bn just shows you that there’s an awful lot of drugs available. That is why Cape Town is the drug capital of South Africa. We are far, far ahead of other cities in terms of drug crime stats. We’re making a grave mistake by underestimating the drug problem in this city, because it’s bigger than anyone thinks.”

He said the drug trade considered Cape Town “a very lucrative place to do business”.

The wide range of anti-drug measures needed constant hard work and vigilance, he said.

“We need to continue to hit the drug cartels very hard. We can do much, much better. But we’ve had a recent glimpse into the underworld and at least we know they are now scared.”

On the drug statistics, Professor Bronwyn Myers, specialist scientist at the Medical Research Council, said: “The police need to be congratulated. But we’re still seeing high demand for treatment, as well as high levels of unmet treatment need in various communities, which suggests there are still lots of drugs being circulated.”

The prevalent drug was tik, but heroin use was rising. This was mixed with dagga to form “unga”.

Myers said drug abuse in the Western Cape “cuts across all communities, all demographics”.

The committee also heard from a number of provincial commissioners that the ever-increasing influx of foreigners into SA and the resulting increase in informal settlement populations were contributing greatly to the country’s crime rate.

The mushrooming of informal businesses – many opened by foreigners – and an absence of municipal by-laws to regulate them were problems cited by most provinces in tackling crime.

The Western Cape recorded a 1.6 percent increase in murders, from 2 274 between April 2009 and March 2010, to 2 311 between April 2010 and March last year.

For the same period, attempted murders rose by 26.7 percent, from 1 707 to 2 162.

Sexual offences dropped by 3.9 percent, from 9 678 to 9 299.

Robbery with aggravating circumstances decreased by 2.3 percent and carjacking by 20.5 percent, while truck-jacking rose by 21.7 percent. House robbery was up 4.1 percent and business robbery increased by 23.7 percent.

According to statistics supplied by Gauteng police commissioner Mzwandile Petros, murders in the province went from 3 444 between April 2009 and March 2010, to 3 257 between April 2010 to March last year. Attempted murder dropped from 4 800 to 4 104. Sexual crimes decreased from 15 645 to 13 987.

In the same period, commercial crime rose from 34 095 to 34 756 recorded incidents and robbery with aggravating circumstances was down from 47 289 to 40 052.

Carjackings dropped from 7 444 to 5 936, while truck-jackings went from 860 to 600. Residential robberies also decreased, from 8 051 to 7 039.

Bank robberies were more than halved in that period, cash-in-transit heists were more or less unchanged, while ATM bombings shot up from 103 to 229.

In KwaZulu-Natal, murders dropped from 4 224 to 3 749 (11 percent) and attempted murder from 4 614 to 3 915 (15 percent).

Sexual offences were also down, from 13 269 to 12 793 (3.6 percent).

Assault with grievous bodily harm decreased from 30 884 to 30 582 and common assault from 32 980 to 32 271. There was a substantial drop in carjackings, from 3 715 to 2 619 (29.5 percent), while residential robberies were down by 12.7. Residential burglaries declined from 40 393 to 39 550, and non-residential robberies dipped from 11 314 to 10 984.

Committee chairman Sindi Chikunga said there was a need for more focus on stock theft – which remained a problem affecting rich and poor, but particularly the poor, who used stock as their “bank” – as well as sector policing and detective services.

She called on the commissioners to have “no mercy” on members of the police involved in crime.

“Huge resources are pumped into the SAPS. It must enable police officers to do their jobs. As a portfolio committee we expect results,” she said. – Political Bureau

They tried to make me go to rehab I said No No No

The Western Cape’s chief director for social welfare services, Dave McNamara, spoke out on Wednesday night about his drug arrest last June in the city centre.

McNamara said he was not caught with drugs when police stopped him at the Caltex garage in Orange Street early on June 28.

He disputed that he was arrested at or near the notorious Senator Park building on Long Street, which was known as a drug den.

McNamara, whose job description includes targeting substance abuse and related problems, was arrested in possession of an empty tik straw and lolly.

“I’m not a drug user, I’ve never been a drug user,” said McNamara.

On Wednesday, he was placed on leave for seven days while the Department of Social Development goes ahead with plans to suspend him pending an investigation.

Last July, days after his arrest, he took a drug test at one of the provincial government’s drug laboratories and said the results were negative.

“I’m prepared to take another drug test. If you work in the field of substance abuse you should be tested at any time,” said McNamara.

He said he had not informed his employers about his arrest because he believed he was “in the right, I hadn’t done anything wrong”.

“It was probably an error of judgement but I’m prepared to live with the consequences.”

He said he had never used tik, and said the empty straw and the lolly did not belong to him.

McNamara will appear in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court in April. His lawyer, William Booth, indicated that he would plead not guilty.

News of McNamara’s arrest emerged this week when a local tabloid reported on it and Social Development MEC Albert Fritz said he had also been kept in the dark about it until a few days ago.

Despite Fritz finding out about it, McNamara had not been immediately suspended and had been allowed to work until Tuesday.

But on Wednesday Fritz announced that after seeking legal advice he had decided to place McNamara on leave for seven days.

“In line with labour legislation, he has been informed of the department’s intention to proceed with suspension and during this time he will have the opportunity to defend the allegations,” he said.

Fritz said a decision would be made by next week to suspend McNamara.

Asked on Wednesday how McNamara had kept news of his arrest under wraps for so long, Fritz replied: “I wish I knew how he did that.

“I only found out at the end of last week. It’s absolutely amazing.”

He said McNamara would face severe penalties if he was proved guilty.

The ANC called for the head of Fritz if he knew about McNamara’s arrest. - Cape Times

‘Anti-drug’ director on drug charges - Shifting the Status Quo

A SENIOR provincial director whose job description includes targeting substance abuse and related problems has been charged with drug possession after he was allegedly found with tik.

Dave McNamara, who is presently still chief director for social welfare services, was arrested in a notorious city centre block of flats last year and taken into custody.

Western Cape - Workstream on the Prevention and Treatment of Harmful Alcohol and Drug Use - 

Dave McNamara - Chief Directorate of Implementation and Planning

He was discovered at Senator Park in the early hours of June 28.

A full tik straw and tik lolly were allegedly found in his pockets.

Over the years, McNamara has been widely quoted in the media about the province’s escalating drug problem. But news of his arrest emerged only this week when a tabloid got hold of the case number and asked police about the matter.

STRATEGY FOR THE PREVENTION OF AND TREATMENT FOR HARMFUL DRUG
AND ALCOHOL USE

For the Premier’s Coordinating Forum - 28 July 2010

Social Development MEC Albert Fritz said he had also found out about McNamara’s arrest only this week.

“The department has sought legal advice and is currently considering the most appropriate action,” he said.

Fritz said McNamara had been arrested on a charge of possession of illegal substances. He referred queries about the circumstances around McNamara’s arrest to police.

Yesterday, police spokesman Frederick van Wyk, without using McNamara’s name, said a case of drug possession had been opened.

He said the matter was under investigation and currently formed part of a court case. McNamara was expected in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court again in April.

Zodwa Mgwaza, the ANC’s spokeswoman for social development in the provincial legislature, said McNamara’s arrest could not be ignored. She said it was not evident how Fritz only found out about it this week, nearly eight months later.

“It is unclear how he could have been kept in the dark so long on such a serious matter.

“The MEC and the DA should now show it takes drug fighting seriously, suspend McNamara pending the court case and set clear future guidelines to deal with such occurrences,” Mgwaza said.

“Substance abuse is a serious problem causing enormous suffering in the province.

“The DA must ensure the battle against drugs continues unharmed,” Mgwaza said.

When McNamara was arrested in Senator Park last year, the block of flats had been notorious for crime, especially drug dealing and prostitution.

Constant police raids had been carried out in the building, and eventually Senator Park’s body corporate obtained an order from the Western Cape High Court authorising the upgrade of the building.

In July last year the building had been cleared of tenants so it could be revamped. - IOL

Welfare chief on leave after drug arrest

A Western Cape social welfare senior director charged with drug possession after allegedly being found with tik in his car, has been placed on leave with immediate effect, social development MEC Albert Fritz said on Wednesday.

Dave Mcnamara was arrested in the Senator Park block of flats in the city centre early on June 28, but the matter came to light only on Tuesday after Die Son newspaper reported on the case.

A tik straw and tik lolly were allegedly found in his pockets. He had been widely quoted in the media through the years about the Western Cape's drug problem.

“It has been brought to my attention that a senior official in my department was arrested last year on a charge of possession of illegal substances,” Fritz said.

“I have taken legal advice on the matter and have decided on the following course of action. The official has been placed on leave with immediate effect for the next seven days.

“In line with labour legislation, he has been informed of the department’s intention to proceed with suspension and during this time, he will have the opportunity to defend the allegations.

“Upon the lapse of this seven day period, a decision will be taken on whether or not to suspend the official.”

Fritz said “contingency plans” were in place to ensure continued service delivery.

Mcnamara is expected to appear in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court again in April.

Zodwa Mgwaza, the ANC's spokeswoman for social development in the provincial legislature, said it was unclear how Fritz could have been kept in the dark about the matter for eight months.

“Substance abuse is a serious problem causing enormous suffering in the province,” Mgwaza said.

“The DA must ensure the battle against drugs continues unharmed.” – Sapa

Hot day in Cape Town

Mayor pours booze down the drain

More than 5000 bottles of alcohol confiscated on beaches this holiday season have been destroyed by the City of Cape Town.

Mayor of Cape Town Patricia De Lille, the mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith, and the member for social and early childhood development, Beverley Cortje-Alcock, poured all the alcohol down a drain at an Ndabeni storage facility.

The 2600 litres of confiscated alcohol were worth R66000. The haul of alcohol included cases of beer, ciders, brandy and champagne.

De Lille said: “One of the biggest problems around this time of year is people taking their alcohol to drink on beaches or other public spaces. Alcohol is banned on all city beaches. Our law enforcement officers will patrol the beaches over the festive season. We cannot be a society that condones personal entertainment without responsibility or consequences for illegal behaviour.

“We need to get rid of the stigma attached to Cape Town being the binge drinking capital of South Africa,” she said. (from the New Age)

Anti-drug campaign launched

Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini has told Khayelitsha residents they could not rely on government to combat substance abuse.

She was speaking at the launch of a drug abuse campaign in the Cape Town on Wednesday.

The minister said the non-governmental organisations in Khayelitsha should unite to help fight the abuse.

Dlamini also called on the community to unite with a common purpose.

She encouraged a group of former drug addicts to start studying and complete their education.

Referring to the increase in South African drug mules, Dlamini called on parents to be more vigilant.

She added drug pushers were targeting the vulnerable and poor.

- Eyewitness News

Doccie reveals how drugs destroy young lives

Delft, South Africa, 2011. And the living is not good. Youngsters have been turned into zombies with street drugs taking possession of them, ripping their lives apart.

Sound like a science fiction movie? Well, it’s not.

It’s a local documentary, screened for the first time in the city on Friday night, in which young tik addicts from the area give a brutally honest account of the stranglehold the drug has on them and what it has done to their lives.

Local production company Street Talk decided to make the movie to help curb the impact of tik abuse in their communities.

The film, Tik: The Devil Within, was made by two of the company’s film-makers Akhona Ndoloshe, 27, and Thembela Dick, 25, and was shot in Ndoloshe’s home area of Delft where there have been many problems with drug abuse.

He said: “In my area there are a lot of youngsters who drop out of school and they resort to drugs. Then they find themselves in and out of jail with no future.”

Ndoloshe, who interviewed people affected by drugs in the documentary, added that the film was centred around a group of addicts who would all use, buy and speak about tik on camera.

He said: “At first it was hard to get them to speak about it on camera, but after spending more time with them it was easier.”

Dick, who held the camera throughout the movie, added that although some of the scenes were frightening, the film was also filled with eye-opening scenes.

She said: “We also filmed a 15-year-old girl who was addicted to tik and was pregnant. I thought to myself, if she continues like this where will she be in five years?”

Dick hopes that this movie will help educate young people in all areas of the Western Cape, including her area, Gugulethu.

Ndoloshe said: “My dream is that the film will be seen by the government and they will decide to finally help the people, because there is not enough being done at the moment.”

However, Grant Jardine, manager of the Cape Town Drug Counselling Centre, has warned that scare tactics used in an effort to curb drug addiction often had the opposite effect.

He said though the fight against drugs in Cape Town had intensified, the situation remained as dire as before.

“The situation has remained the same, the only difference is the kind of drugs. Tik and heroin have become the drugs of choice over dagga and Mandrax.”

Jardine added that tik and heroin were incredibly addictive, which was a major reason for the increased usage of the drug.

He said: “It is highly likely that people will try tik and heroin and become addicted, which has led to the drugs having a bigger impact.”

*The movie will be screened on Cape Town TV (CTV) on Saturday night at 6pm and is available to view on www.streettalktv.com

- IOL

Police force residents to eat dagga

A video of what appears to be two police officers forcing residents in Hanover Park to eat dagga confiscated from them is being investigated by the community’s police forum.

The incident in Surburg Walk was captured on a resident’s cellphone in a video recording on Sunday.

On Tuesday, Die Son ran stills from the video which showed two men dressed in the official police uniform.

One uniformed man, with a black cap, can be seen holding back a woman’s head and apparently putting something in her mouth, while the other uniformed man can be seen holding back the head of a man and putting something in his mouth.

A woman, with what appears to be a baby on her back, is also apparently forced to eat something. The substance the residents were fed was allegedly dagga.

Community safety MEC Dan Plato said he had addressed police authorities about the images, which had left him feeling disturbed.

“They are aware of it. That’s not the role of the police.

“If they wanted to arrest people, then they should have made arrests.

“They are there to enforce the law,” he said.

Anthony Daniels, chairman of the Hanover Park Community Police Forum (CPF), said the CPF had launched its own inquiry into the incident.

“I won’t have the full story yet, but we are investigating it ourselves.

“I’m going to be very disturbed if these images should turn out to be the truth,” he said. (from IOL)

Police find large consigment of TIK

Two people have been arrested in Beaufort West after being found in possession of a consignment of tik with a street value of around R3 million, Western Cape police said on Wednesday.

The two, aged 24 and 38, were arrested when the Vehicle Identification Safeguarding Unit and the K9-Unit stopped a minibus en-route from Bloemfontein to Cape Town at a weighbridge on the N1 at 3.15pm on Tuesday, Captain Bernadine Steyn said.

"During their search of the minibus, they found five paper-bags containing a huge consignment of pure tik inside the spare tyre, attached to the rear bottom of the vehicle," she said.

It was later established that the tik, also known as crystal methampetamine, weighed about 9.6kg.

The two were expected to appear in the Beaufort West Magistrate's Court on Friday on a charge of dealing in drugs. (The New Age)

Cocaine mules caught at Cape Town International

Some Cape Town doctors had a rather unusual day on Tuesday – they were in charge of the very slow process of monitoring two alleged drug mules as they “processed” at least 145 capsules containing drugs.

The men, a South African and a Congolese, were arrested at Cape Town International Airport as they arrived from Brazil, via Qatar, on Monday evening. Border police nabbed the two, aged 25 and 35, in an operation conducted with the help of Customs Border Control.

Police spokesman November Filander said the men’s luggage was searched during a routine check and a photo frame, containing 200g of cocaine worth approximately R57 500, was confiscated.

Filander said the pair also confessed to “transporting drugs in their systems”.

“They were taken to hospital for X-rays where they were positively tested for swallowing ‘bullets’ containing drugs. They are still in hospital to allow doctors to remove the drugs,” Filander said. (from IOL)

Call to ban smoking in cars

Smoking should be banned in cars to protect drivers and passengers – especially children – from breathing in toxins far worse than those found in smoky bars, the nation's doctors have demanded.

The British Medical Association (BMA) is urging ministers across the UK to extend the ban on smoking in public places introduced in 2007 to all vehicles in a further effort to protect people's health.

Children are at particular risk from secondhand smoke in cars because they take in more of the chemicals from cigarettes than adults and may not be able to refuse to travel in a smoky car.

The BMA called for a ban after reviewing previously published research studies into cars and smoking.

A car's occupants are exposed to 23 times more toxins than they would encounter in a bar, the BMA's review found. Older people, who are more likely to have breathing problems, are also at extra risk of health damage from inhaling secondhand smoke in a car, it added.

The government is unlikely to do what the BMA recommends, though. "We do not believe that legislation is the most effective way to encourage people to change their behaviour," a Department of Health spokesman said. (from Guardian)

City sets up substance abuse strategy

The City of Cape Town has implemented a substance abuse strategy after research showed a link between addiction and tens of thousands of “unauthorised absences” clocked up by its workforce in just one year.

In 2009, city employees clocked up 35,000 days of “unauthorised absences”, 235 dismissals and 510 resignations.

The figures were part of the city’s absenteeism analysis.

The city employs more than 27,000 people.

Demetri Qually, the mayoral committee member for corporate services, said the city had been working with the Medical Research Council (MRC) and had found a link between absenteeism trends and addiction.

The MRC is conducting a two-year study investigating the scope of drug use in the workplace in Cape Town, including the city council.

Qually said the city wanted to conduct more research on the issue with the MRC.

“It is envisaged that the city will benefit more from the research that the city seeks to initiate in partnership with the MRC using data from participating departments and directorates,” he said.

It would also start an awareness campaign for employees, which would encourage those who were affected to seek help from the city.

A report on the strategy was tabled before the corporate services portfolio committee last week.

The city piloted the Matrix project, an outpatient rehabilitation programme, with 15 employees.

The first group graduated last month, after being sober for more than 120 days.

Last week the portfolio committee gave the go-ahead for a second round.

The report said the strength of this programme was that employees could remain in their “normal environment”.

They had a strong support system because line managers played active roles in the rehabilitation process.

“The approach changed from being punitive to a supportive one which regards alcohol and drug dependency as a disease,” states the report.

This programme is just one of the measures to help employees struggling with substance abuse.

There is also a suggestion in the report that the city buy drug-testing kits through a tender process and introduce “on the spot” drug testing.

Line managers and supervisors will be trained to “manage and test” employees with substance abuse problems.

It’s hoped these plans will lead to a “zero tolerance” approach toward substance abuse.

Qually said the absenteeism in the analysis related to incidents that could not be explained by employees.

He said the rates had since been reduced.

According to the report, the city had also found that employees lived in areas with high substance abuse rates.

Another issue was the number of employees who had been to in-patient rehabilitation programmes, but had relapsed.

Although the city supported treatment for addiction, he said few employees were willing to discuss their problems.

“Very few staff members are open about the fact that performance issues are related to the disease of addiction and often only after disciplinary processes is this information shared with line managers,” said Qually.

Of those who participated in the Matrix programme, 70 percent were involved in a disciplinary hearing.

For 60 percent, it was not the first time they faced the process.

Speaking on the higher number of resignations versus dismissals, Qually said many employees resigned before they could be served with notices of further action.

He said it was not possible to give exact figures on how many employees were struggling with substance abuse.

The SA National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (Sanca) in the Western Cape said there were no figures on how many office workers were struggling with addiction.

Tertius Cronje, Sanca’s corporate services director, said the council was working with the MRC on a study to determine the scope of the problem.

Cronje said the council was assisting with the field work for the study.

It is being headed by Nadine Harker-Burnhams, a scientist in the MRC’s alcohol and drug abuse research unit.

The study is the subject of her doctoral thesis.

- Cape Argus