The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Limpopo has written to the MEC for Social Development, Nkakareng Rakgaole, to urgently address the low admission rate and other issues at Seshego Treatment Centre.
The Centre, which was meant to be completed in 2011, has only been operational since the end of 2018 and was established to offer much needed assistance for those admitted for substance abuse treatment, rehabilitation programmes and to assist people through outpatient treatment services.
Seshego Treatment Centre has a bed capacity of 79 and has been unable to admit patients to full capacity since its inception, except during the Covid-19 lockdown period. In the 4 years of operation, it only reached full capacity for 1 year.
There is currently no dedicated medical doctor for the centre. The department claims to be in the process of appointing a private doctor who will offer services, but admission is currently dependent on those hospitals that can detoxify users.
There has also been a concerning decline in the province’s target for Substance Abuse Treatment Services from 500 in 2021/22 to 350 in 2022/23.
The Department had a budget allocation of R68,457 million and underspent an amount of R2,595 million on the Substance Abuse, Prevention and Rehabilitation sub-programme in the 2021/2022 financial year. This budget was underspent despite the province registering 1 496 drug related crimes and 893 cases of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Although we have just concluded commemorating the 2022 SANCA Drug Awareness Week, it is clear that the department is not doing enough to deal with issues related to the Seshego Treatment Centre, taking into consideration that substance abuse is a crisis in the province.
The DA cares about the well-being of communities and believes the Limpopo Department of Social Development needs to strengthen efforts in dealing with substance abuse in the province by improving the services offered at the Seshego Treatment Centre.