President Jacob Zuma has assured South Africans that the Criminal Justice System of the country is capable and willing to deal with substance abuse. Speaking at the 2nd Biennial Summit on Substance Abuse in Durban, the President said "Our Criminal Justice System is geared towards dealing with the impact of substance abuse."
The summit, hosted by the Department of Social Development and the Central Drug Authority, is a follow-up to the first summit that was held in 2007 and all role players will provide feedback on how they have implemented the resolutions that were agreed upon. The theme for this summit is: An Integrated Approach: Towards a Drug-Free Society.
Substance abuse in South Africa, is a major contributor to crime, gender based violence, poverty dysfunctional family life and many other social ills. Women and children often are the victims of violence.
President Zuma said the Justice Crime Prevention and Security cluster would continue to provide the necessary support to women in distress and take action against perpetrators. "We have directed the police to act decisively against drug peddlers. They should face the full might of the law as they are working to destroy our communities," he explained.
Speaking at the same event, Justice and Constitutional Development Deputy Minister Andries Nel pledged the department's support in ensuring that justice is served in cases of substance abuse. "Our courts are equipped to deal with such cases. We will bring drug lords to book because we don't want to only sentence the buyers but we want to deal with the problem from the root. We want the big fish," he said.
The Deputy Minister explained that young children are being used by drug lords to sell drugs and when these youngsters are arrested the drug lords simply move on to the next available youngster. "It is for this reason that we feel that there is a need for restorative justice. These youngsters should not be sent to prison where they will get worse but should rather be rehabilitated into society."
Government, in an effort to address the challenge of substance abuse, has put in place and is implementing the National Drug Master Plan. The plan has three key areas namely: demand reduction, law enforcement and supply reduction. The Blueprint will be reviewed this year; this is so it is strengthened in line with current trends.