Drug crisis in Johannesburg

DA mayoral candidate in Johannesburg, Helen Zille, said that very few people grasp the full scale of the drug crisis in Johannesburg.

She shared information about the crisis in an interview with Gabriel Makin on The Common Sense podcast.

Zille said that the widespread infrastructure vandalism in Johannesburg is mainly caused by the severity of drug abuse in the city.

“The vandalism is driven by people cutting down metal structures to sell at scrapyards for quick cash to support their addictions and feed international drug cartels,” she said.

Substance abuse is also a major underlying driver of the national emergency surrounding gender-based violence and violence against children.

She said the issue that breaks her heart the most is the impact of drug addiction on families and children.

“When you enter a house where the parents are using drugs, the young children are visibly malnourished,” she said.

“There is nothing to eat, and the stench of drugs in the room is so thick you can almost get high just walking through the door.”

“Children are growing up in these environments. Child grant money is being diverted to fund drug habits. It is truly heartbreaking to witness.”

She said that when she visits areas like Dobsonville, Meadowlands, and middle-class parts of Soweto, grandmothers often approach her.

“They tell me that their grandchildren are addicted to drugs, they attack them, and they steal their belongings. They can no longer live with them,” she said.

“They want help with rehabilitation. However, the cheapest private rehabilitation costs around R5,000, which most families simply cannot afford.”

“When I ask why the grandmothers are left to deal with this, they explain that their own adult children are also addicted.”

In municipal retirement facilities run by the City of Johannesburg, young children live with their grandparents.

This technically violates facility rules, but elderly residents explain that they cannot leave their grandchildren to be raised by parents struggling with active addiction.

Drug crisis in Johannesburg

Zille said that very few people grasp the full scale of the drug crisis in Johannesburg, which affects lower, middle, and upper-class suburbs.

“Multi-generational addiction exists, and high school populations are being decimated. It is severe,” she said.

“The drug crisis threatens to destroy the next generation far more than apartheid did, and it needs urgent attention.”

Zille said that she had been into homes where children as young as 11 are recruited into drug and gang networks operating within schools.

“Seeing these conditions firsthand shows how impossible it is for children to thrive under such circumstances,” she said.

Addressing the problem requires a coordinated, intergovernmental focus, including removing young people from the environment where their addiction began.

Zille proposed establishing specialised farm-based facilities outside the communities which are struggling with drug abuse.

They should provide decent boarding conditions where youths can undergo live-in rehabilitation and learn practical vocational trades.

“We need to reach young people between the ages of 11 and 18 before they are permanently lost to addiction or gang recruitment,” she said.

“Such facilities are needed given the complete absence of public live-in rehabilitation centres for that age demographic.”