The UN office on Drugs and Crime reported in their 2010 World Report that South Africa is the largest International player in the Import and Export of drugs. Since then drugs have escalated out of control due to the fact that our Law Enforcement Agencies refuse to investigate many of the drug cartels operating in South Africa.
The South African Youth is our biggest target audience, with more and more young South Africans getting involved with drugs; whether it’s experimenting, dealing, addiction, being mules or decoys; they’re getting sucked into the drug industry. The lack of awareness campaigns in South Africa and at schools on drug trafficking keeps the youth ignorant, which makes them vulnerable to recruiters. A lot of people who are targeted for drug trafficking have no idea until it is too late.
Parents are battling a never-ending crisis of drug abuse with their children. Never mind the fact that nobody ever taught them how to be parents they now have this added responsibility of dealing with a drug addicted son/daughter!
Some interesting facts that our youth need to know is that the drug lords, drug mules and recruiters do not consume drugs. All they are interested in is the money.
The drug mules are employed by the drug cartels and are protected by some corrupt Law Enforcement and Airport officials.
Recruiters are specifically employed by drug cartels to seek these people out. They are the decoys. Deliberately set up by the people who sent them, they take the fall while the bigger consignment gets through with the actual mule. These recruiters are expert liars and manipulators and people across all racial groups and both genders are deluded by promises of jobs or paid-for holidays and a chance to see the world.
This is just another form of human trafficking
Human trafficking in South Africa is a serious problem that warrants urgent intervention on all fronts, according to a study released at a National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) conference on Human Trafficking held March 2010.
The report, Tsireledzani: Understanding the dimensions of Human Trafficking in Southern Africa says victims are mostly women, girls and boys trafficked for variety of purposes, including prostitution, pornography, domestic servitude, forced labour, begging criminal activity (including drug trafficking), and trafficking for the removal of body parts (or muti).
Young boys are trafficked to smuggle drugs and for other criminal activities
Let’s not forget that no drug addict is ever forced to take drugs. In fact, the user is the root cause of the world’s drug problem because without their demand there would be no supply.
We would like to emphasize the lack of co-ordinate investigations into the role of the recruiters and drug lords within the South African borders. As far as we know, currently the criminal investigations of the SAPS are non-existent into the activities of the recruiters, except for the Sheryl Cwele and Frank Nabolisa case which was a major breakthrough.
One way to overcome this is this government must enter into Prisoner Transfer Agreements with foreign countries. Former President Nelson Mandela had compassion on our citizens and instructed his government to negotiate Prisoner Transfer Agreements but sadly seventeen years later President Jacob Zuma still will not adhere to the wishes of Nelson Mandela.
The youth of today will one day be adults running South Africa.
How do the youth of today envisage tomorrow’s South Africa?
A nation to be proud of or ashamed of? And what do we do about it now so we have a favourable outcome in years to come. Youth of today have to across the board stand up and put pressure on this government to start fighting against drugs. Easy to say but where do we start?
Education is key to the solution if this were to work!!
It should be mandatory in schools that children from a young age are taught the harmful and devastating effects of drug abuse and how it can destroy a family.
The great leader…The father of the New South Africa Nelson Mandela was such a compassionate and caring man and would be sobbing if he realized how badly this country has turned its life over to drugs and alcohol. HAVE ANY OF YOU CHILDREN OUT THERE SEEN YOUR FATHER CRYING?? IT’S BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU AND ONLY WANTS THE BEST FOR YOU!!!
It’s a personal thing that sneaks into your home in the middle of the night and destroys your family. It is up to parents to monitor their children and trust their instincts, but they’re unable to do that when it comes to Drug Trafficking.
Forget what the News Reports tell you about the South African’s detained in foreign prisons, because I guarantee you, not every South African really knows how these people end up there. Most of them, if not all of them, are not drug mules, but rather decoys, and it is time Parents knew the difference and how easily that could be their own child. – Lyn Welgemoedis the Director of Locked Up
– By Comment: Lyn Welgemoed
