Chairperson, the response to the question asked by hon Nelson is as follows: In terms of section 17(1) of the Prevention of and Treatment for Substance Abuse Act, Act 70 of 2008, the Minister of Social Development must, in consultation with the MEC, establish, maintain and manage at least one public treatment centre in each province for the reception, treatment, rehabilitation and skills development of service users.
The Department of Social Development is in the process of developing regulations for Act 70 of 2008. These regulations will, amongst others, guide provinces in the establishment and management of state treatment centres and halfway houses. Upon completion of the regulations that we are working on, Act 70 of 2008 will replace the Prevention and Treatment of Drug Dependency Act, Act 20 of 1992.
Currently, there are six public treatment centres in the country and the Department of Social Development is planning to establish seven more public treatment centres over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework period.
We can give an indication of where the existing centres are and where we need to establish some. In Gauteng there is a centre at the Dr F F Ribeiro Clinic; in Mpumalanga at Swartfontein; in the Western Cape at De Novo and Kensington; in KwaZulu-Natal at Madadeni and Newlands Park. That is six centres altogether. We intend to establish more centres in the North West, Limpopo, Free State, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape, and two more in the Western Cape.
Chairperson, 45 private treatment centres are currently registered with the Department of Social Development and 23 of them are funded by the department.
The Department of Social Development also conducted a door-to-door campaign in all provinces from 2007 to 2009 to obtain political buy-in. We had a discussion with the MECs and provincial heads of department with the intention to strengthen the implementation of substance abuse prevention programmes as outlined in the National Drug Master Plan which was established for operation between 2006 and 2011.
The Department of Social Development also has a programme called "Ke Moja" [No, thanks], which is a drug awareness programme aimed at creating awareness of harmful effects of substance abuse amongst children and youth both in and out of school. In order to successfully implement the programme, different state departments at both national and provincial levels are working with our NGOs, which are doing a wonderful job in the field of substance abuse.
Training was also conducted in the nine provinces during 2007 and leading up to early this year and currently assists in the roll-out of the programme. This is happening in recreational facilities in schools, clubs and other community institutions that are also working with the Education department and other departments. The Ke Moja programme is an integrated strategy and the necessary programme manuals were developed to guide stakeholders in implementing it ... [Time expired.]
Chairperson, let me first thank the Minister for the comprehensive answer we have received. I think the Minister is aware that people struggling with drug problems can only be assisted once they acknowledge that they have a problem and that they have to go for treatment for that problem.
How, then, is the department assisting those people who acknowledge that they have a problem but, due to financial constraints, are unable to go to a private facility in those areas or provinces where we don't have state institutions? How is the department assisting those people?
Chairperson, as I have already indicated, there are 23 centres that are being supported by the Department of Social Development. Even though they are privately managed, they are funded by the department. We expect those centres - even where we don't have state centres - to actually support those of our people who are not able to fund themselves.
Indeed, it is true that people can be assisted only when they are willing to be helped and I think it is necessary that we as a nation really acknowledge this problem. The issue of substance abuse is a crisis because it is gradually eroding our nation. We have to move beyond party politics. Even those centres that are privately owned need to begin to help the people who are really in dire need and find themselves, through error or any other reason, in the situation of abusing drugs.
Some of the drug abuse stems from the voluntary use of alcohol, but when we look at the figures right now, at the state of affairs, the reality is that we have a very big challenge to which we will have to rise as a nation. This august House is welcome to talk to us about that problem - it is an enormous challenge.
Chairperson, I thank the Minister for the response she has just given us. When I was doing an oversight visit to different provinces, especially those said to have rehabilitation centres, I was informed that the rehab centres are becoming the breeding ground for drug lords. What steps is the government taking to ensure that the rehabilitation centres are totally drug-free zones? Secondly, when last were inspections done to check whether those centres are functioning within the minimum required standards?
Chairperson, we have not heard any reports of the nature that the hon member is referring to, about centres being turned into operational areas by drug lords. We appreciate this information. A monitoring team is currently visiting some of the centres. For instance, Noupoort has been visited, and some other centres too. We will continue using the monitoring team to go to various centres, because it is required by law that we continue monitoring them, just in case there are issues such as what the hon member is referring to.
If there is indeed such a practice out there, we would welcome information of that nature from hon members. As I said, this is a matter of national importance, and almost a crisis, which we need to curb right away, before it kills our nation. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. The time allocated for questions has expired. Outstanding replies received will be printed in Hansard. We now come to Notices of Motion.
See also QUESTIONS AND REPLIES.