Booze, drugs and dropouts bring Mzamomhle down

Ninety percent of Mzamomhle’s residents are unemployed dropouts, according to an NGO working in the Gonubie township in Buffalo City.

Many residents abuse substances, says Busisiwe Luwaca, social worker and manager of Catch Projects, an NGO that runs victim empowerment projects and works closely with township residents.

Luwaca, whose organisation supports 156 families, says poverty in Mzamomhle is rife.

More needed to be done to curb the root causes of poverty or Mzamomhle would continue to deteriorate, she said.

The foundation helps residents with skills training, documentation, finding places at schools and social grants.

“The last time we did stats in 2018, there were more than 40,000 people living there and 90% were unemployed.

“A handful were domestic and construction workers.

“Most people are young and unemployed.

“There is a high rate of school dropouts, substance abuse, HIV infections, pregnancy, crime, and alcohol abuse.” Families struggle to survive. “Most children you see on the streets are needy.

“They do have families but there is a lot of alcohol abuse and negligence, so you find there are children who are not at school because they don’t have documents or because of poverty or violence.”

Incidents of violence in the community were skyrocketing, Luwaca said.

Luwaca said since August last year until the end of March, the foundation had recorded 175 incidents of gender-based violence among people across the age spectrum.

“The most prevalent cases are domestic violence, sexual harassment, and rape.

“These affect people between the ages of six and 35.

“In my assessment, when you have been through a lot of abuse, as they have, you withdraw.

“For parents who have been through emotional and psychological abuse, they succumb to the situation, even if the children need help.

“The whole environment is alcohol dependent.”

Luwaca said children were directly affected by the behaviour of their parents.

“You find that children stay at home. They don’t have schooling because they do not see the need to go to school or they drop out because they are not motivated.”

She feared the cycle of poverty in the community would be ongoing.

“As NGOS we do our best with education because when people have a problem they are often unaware of the situation, and the consequences of their actions.

“Each person who has knowledge and the muscle to create change, no matter how little, must do their part.

“We can all do more and create awareness about issues that affect people in these areas. We see a need for more employment and skills development,” she said.

The foundation has adopted the 156 families and offered them a piece of land on the foundation’s premises to plant vegetables.

She said the government was not helping much.

“All stakeholders need to band together to effect change. We can engage men.

“hey need to do something that brings in money. They can do bricklaying.

“The community needs to come to its senses about how their environment affects them and start to be vigilant about the bad things that affect them.”

The most prevalent cases are domestic violence, sexual harassment and rape