Move to prevent Lenasia suicides

In the past 18 months 20 people have committed suicide in Lenasia.

The community has initiated a Live Life campaign to halt the spate of suicides and has managed to curb the suicide rate, said Shon Moodley, head of operations.

"Last year we had a problem with a suicide chain when two friends of a suicide victim also took their lives. We questioned whether it was a cult movement but there was no evidence to support this. Since we started the Live Life campaign the suicide rate has dropped. However, earlier this month we were told of two known cases of suicide," said Moodley.

"Our aim is to strive to build a vibrant, motivated and caring society. We need to support individuals and vulnerable groups.

"We plan to introduce life skills, development training and professional counselling programmes that will empower and inspire.

"We want to create an environment where people are willing to sit down and talk about their problems," he said.

Lorraine Mitchell, clinical and employee wellness manager of LifeLine Johannesburg, said: "There are about 8000 suicides a year in South Africa, which translates into about one every hour for 23 out of the 24 hours. For every completed suicide per hour there have been 20 attempted suicides in that same hour."

Concerned family or friends can call LifeLine' s emergency response unit on 0100404357.