Chairperson, the reply is as follows: The decrease in the confiscation of cannabis can be attributed to the successes achieved by the cannabis eradication programme of the SA Police Service which is targeting the cannabis crop in South Africa. For the 2006- 07 financial year, an estimated 2 991 hectares of illicit cannabis plantations were destroyed, thus preventing an estimated 2 094 tons of cannabis from reaching the local and foreign drug markets.
The increase in the quantity of Methaqualome confiscated can be attributed to successful police work including the confiscation, during May 2006, of over 2,5 tons of Mandrax tablets smuggled into South Africa. This consignment was found hidden inside wooden doors in a container that was imported from China.
With regard to the second part of the question, the strategy followed by the SAPS is mainly directed towards reducing the supply of illicit drugs to the drug market and it can therefore be expected that the volume of cannabis found and destroyed will increase and large quantities of other drugs will be intercepted at ports of entry. Thank you.