Drug & Substance abuse
marshals

INTRODUCTION

Drugs and Substance Abuse (DSA) marshals are community members who aim to improve their lives by patrolling their communities and its hotspot areas. They patrol around the community areas of Tshwane region 1 with the hope of changing the lives of those who never knew they could be restored and want better change. They not only want to change the lives of the substance users and abusers but also of community members at large by reducing high crime rate and going to the core places. Having identified areas where intervention is needed, we seek external interventions so as to better perform all functions.

MISSION STATEMENT

DSA Marshals’ aim is to eradicate all that can cause harm to the communities’ thoughts, safety, and health. The schools will be the main target since that is where vulnerability starts and then continue to other areas.

VISION & VALUES

Drugs and substance abuse marshals intend to introduce and encourage responsible citizens to a diversified community that continuously assess and monitor to strengthen the everyday key areas that affect the community.

HISTORY OF THE ORGANIZATION

The DSA Marshals program emerged from the Akasia area in Pretoria North in 2022. DSA Marshals comprises of over 200 community members who volunteer their services and are dedicated to counter high rates of crime in and around the Akasia area region 1. They conduct regular patrols in areas deemed hotspots. Of note, they go through screening for criminal records before being admitted into the program.
Akasia and the surrounding areas in region 1 in the City of Tshwane is currently negatively impacted by drug and substance abuse, notably amongst the youth. As part of the efforts to counter the trajectory of this trend, DSA Marshals are engaged in initiatives to ensure that schools are drug free and safe from those that seek to exploit vulnerable learners. A case in point is Amandasig Secondary School, which is surrounded by an informal settlement, a hotspot for the drug trade. The problem of drug and substance abuse at school requires continuous monitoring and high visibility to curb crimes which emanate from drug abuse. It has also been observed that drug and substance abuse has enabled increases in prostitution as well as cases of rape and gender-based violence (GBV)
Born from the observations of these dynamics, it was felt that DSA Marshals could benefit from training. In addition, it was observed that they required basic equipment to better perform their functions.

Request Assistance

Community Impact News