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Citation |
Singh A, Bhoola S. Acta Criminol. 2017; 30(1): 48-64. |
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Copyright |
(Copyright © 2017, Criminological Society of South Africa) |
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DOI |
unavailable |
PMID |
unavailable |
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Abstract |
The purpose of this paper is to highlight three issues: the surge of substance abuse (illicitly and illegally acquired mind altering substances such as drugs and alcohol) in South African schools, using case studies from Durban to illustrate the point; the extent of the problem in the major metropolises in the country; and the extent of engagement at the highest levels of authority within the country and internationally. Our purpose here is to use these three issues to demonstrate the ever widening schism between the realities in moral regeneration and moral degeneration. Information below, gathered through personal interviews and secondary sources (literature) shows that a major contributory factor in this surge is unemployment and the festering problems of slum areas. In the absence of meaningful employment in developing countries such as South Africa, the complicity between high ranking politicians and ordinary people finds captive markets among substance abusers in areas of indigent populations. Although not central to this paper the role of internationally known espionage agencies such as the CIA to "fight enemies of democracy" is also briefly raised here to demonstrate the virtual helplessness against moral degeneration. There is a force and terror associated with these processes that has the inevitable tendency to silence people of authority, such as school principals and local leaders. In between the highest echelons among the politicians and drug lords and the 'insignificant abuser' is the silent population that often remains quiet out of sheer fear to oppose them. It is this reality, as the information below demonstrates, that the widening the gap between the forces of moral regeneration and moral degeneration prevails. Language: en |