Scores of whoonga drug addicts living on the railway line in Congella‚ Durban‚ have drawn the ire of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP)‚ which has accused KwaZulu-Natal Premier Willies Mchunu of heading a failed drug task team.
IFP spokesperson Blessed Gwala said that in 2014 Mchunu had been tasked with leading a task team to fight the drug scourge in the Berea.
“Former Premier Senzo Mchunu named the current Premier Willies Mchunu‚ then the MEC of Community Safety‚ as a leader of a task team to look into the problem of drugs in Berea and surrounding areas.
“We want to know from Premier Willies Mchunu how far he has gone in fighting the rise of drug abuse in the province. We question the effectiveness of this task team‚ if it does exist‚ or was it just a smoke screen?” he said.
Gwala said the whoonga addicts robbed people and then fled to a railway line‚ where they lived in groups.
“Both tourists and local shoppers in the Durban CBD are not safe as the number of muggings and theft of cell phones and money has increased. Ordinary citizens are at risk of being robbed on a daily basis‚” he said.
However‚ Mchunu’s spokesperson Ndabezinhle Sibiya on Thursday accused Gwala of grandstanding.
“Instead of pointing fingers we call for a united front against any form of crime in this province.”
“We believe that MPL Blessed Gwala and other leaders have an important role to play to strengthen the fight against social ills as he is respected by the community‚” he said.
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