The City of Cape Town’s Social Development and Early Childhood Development Directorate is in the process of identifying unused City-owned buildings that can be turned into drug and alcohol rehabilitation centres, as part of its efforts to address the serious substance abuse problems in the city.
Mayoral Committee Member for Social Development and Early Childhood Development, Councillor Suzette Little, said this is one of the many programmes the department is working on, and forms part of its planning into 2016.
“We have started the process of identifying all vacant City-owned buildings which can be used as rehabilitation centres. We’ve got 111 wards, and we will try to get as many rehab centres as we can, depending of course on our budget, but we do believe we have sufficient buildings to accommodate the types of facilities we need,” says Councillor Little.
She added that the identification process takes into account the location of the building and its accessibility, as well as practical considerations such as its size.
The directorate is looking for facilities which can offer outpatient treatment as well as some that have bed space so that people can be accommodated at the clinic. “We want to be able to accommodate people that need to get away from home,” Cllr Little says.
There are a number of registered treatment centres and outpatient drug and alcohol treatment sites across the metropole, but these are struggling to cope with the increased numbers of people accessing them, as many addicts are unable to afford expensive private rehab centres.
Meanwhile, the directorate has identified six programmes, which it is focusing on in its planning going into 2016 that will meet its goal of delivering impactful and developmental services. They are the Early Childhood Development, Street People; Substance Abuse; Poverty Alleviation and Reduction; Youth and Vulnerable Groups programmes.
For more information about getting help, visit the City’s Alcohol and Drugs website or call the Toll free 24/7 helpline: 0800 HELP 4 U (0800 435 748). Operators are fluent in IsiXhosa, English and Afrikaans.
