Watch: call for a national anti-drug unit to combat rising drug-related violence

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6 hours ago

Kamatchie Naicker was stabbed to death earlier this month. Her grandson, Lincoln Moodley, was arrested by Phoenix SAPS detectives, in Amaoti, north of Durban on June 10.
Image: Supplied
AT A NATIONAL Assembly Plenary Session on Thursday, MK Party MP Visvin Reddy had called for a national, independent anti-drug unit to be established. The unit, he said, must be empowered to raid, seize and make arrests quickly, effectively and fearlessly.
Speaking to the POST today, Reddy said it had reached a stage where one must "treat fire with fire".
He was referring to drug dealers, who, he added, were infiltrating far too many homes across the country.
"Gang warfare and drive-by shootings are all related to drugs and who controls areas. The easy prey are children. Once these kids are exposed to drugs, there is no turning back. It is time to break the chains of silence, speak out, and stand together as communities. Drug dealers must be arrested and put behind bars. We need a team with the power to arrest without a court order."
Reddy also called for a dedicated budget for rehabilitation services, and the roll-out of a methadone-based treatment programme for drug users that the government must fund.
He hopes to create a team comprising the presidency, cabinet members, the police and the departments of social development and health - to lead the charge "not in words but in daily measurable action".
Reddy started off his address in the plenary session saying he did not stand before them as an MP but as a father, brother, friend and a member of a "hurting community".
"I stand with the weight of countless South African families, who are crying out for help as drugs tighten its grip on our homes, our children and our futures."
Lincoln Moodley, 24, was arrested and charged for the murder of Kamatchie Naicker and the attempted murder of his 63-year-old mother, Shirley Appalsamy.
Image: Facebook
He then spoke about the tragedy that unfolded recently in Phoenix, which "shook me to the core".
Kamatchie Naicker, 83, and her daughter, Shirley Appalsamy, 63, of Westham, were repeatedly stabbed with a large butcher's knife.
Naicker, a grandmother of nine, sustained multiple stab wounds and was declared dead by paramedics. Appalsamy, a mother of two, was also stabbed multiple times and her throat slit. She was resuscitated before being taken to a hospital and remains in a critical condition.
The POST reported on the incident earlier this month.
"The perpetrator was not somebody unknown. It was actually her own grandson, a child that she once cradled, now consumed by addition and turned into a monster. This was not just an act of violence. It was a murder of trust. What kind of poison is this, that families become foes? The answer is simple. It is drugs."
Reddy said Phoenix was not alone. He spoke of incidents in Cape Town and in Chatsworth in Durban.
"In Chatsworth, I met a mother who had no choice but to chain her son to the bed just to keep him from stealing and using drugs again. These are not horror stories. These are real people, our people."
He said drug dealers were real and were not hiding.
"They prey on our children. They stand at school gates. They whisper offers in corners. They sponsor events and shake the hands of politicians and the police. Some are even protected, and in some cases, the police are turning a blind eye, or worse, they are taking a cut."
Reddy said rehabilitation centres were supposed to offer hope but it had become a failure.
"It's under-funded, overcrowded and disconnected to reality. Over 60% who seek help relapse after months."
He spoke about a substance use programme that offered methadone-based treatment in the City of Tshwane - that had shown "great promise".
"More than 70% of the participants remain in treatment after six months. That is not just a number. It is a lifeline. Imagine if the success could be replicated across our nation..."
THE POST