Jail-time won’t cure a homeless person of addiction

IT IS seldom that we get the chance to just stop and take in our surroundings. Maybe it’s a good thing. As homeless people, we end up in places not pretty at all. And the contrast is immense. From wooden floors covered with a thick Afghan rug, warmed by underfloor heating, to a concrete slab, mouldy and damp in some abandoned building.

The relentless activity of rats during the night can be so intense one could think there is another person scratching about. Sometimes rats were the only company I had.

There are certain situations that one, at the time, cannot change. And in this is where your strength of doom lies. Adapting to one’s environment is an art of its own. Not the right thing to do, but to make it for as long as it takes to return to normality.

There are many empty buildings around the city. And people hide in there to get away from the hostile weather. With no electricity or running water, these places can be really spooky at night. And they are never clean.

I think our biggest challenge so far is clean, dry clothing and bedding. This is one of the reasons the space in Culemborg needs to be opened. It is still not operational.

I firmly believe in law and order. And I believe when a crime is committed, the law must take its course. But there are times when the punishment is way too harsh.

There has been an increase in drug-related arrests. More than 20 homeless people a day have been recorded. A packet of tik or two. An empty lollie, etc.

Most receive a R3 000 fine or three months jail sentence.

No homeless/poor person has the money to pay, so jail-time it will be.

If you had someone to pay on your behalf or you are rich, you will never see the inside of a jail.

To me, this is very harsh. And if you have no proof of an address, you won’t get bail.

People are going to jail for their addiction. They don’t receive help in the form of rehab. You hear about the same person in and out of jail.

If our government spends more money on social support and job creation, instead of correctional service budgets, we can give support in a more productive way.

Locking a person up for 90 days is not going to help him with his addiction in any way. And as you know, our jails are over-crowded, rife with TB.

Possession of a R40-tik packet gives you a criminal record, with a lifelong struggle to get a decent job, instead of enrolling in a holistic recovery plan with the hope of a clean future.

What good is this to anybody, in the long run, having half of our population sitting with a criminal record for something that is really not that criminal at all? It’s an addiction.