Bulawayo residents are living in fear as young lives have been lost to illegal substance abuse, leaving communities devastated and desperate for intervention
A mother shared her heart-breaking experience with Southern Eye, detailing how drugs have destroyed her son and turned him against her.
“I’m not really sure of the illegal substances that he is consuming, but when he comes home he shouts at me. Sometimes he is good, and sometimes he is not,” she said.
“He lost all respect.
“There was a time he took a bucket full of water and poured it on me.
“When I went outside and decided to report the matter to the police, he told me he was going to beat me up.
Keep Reading
- Revisiting Majaivana’s last show… ‘We made huge losses’
- Edutainment mix: The nexus of music and cultural identity
- ChiTown acting mayor blocks election
- Promoter Mdu 3D defends foreigners 30 minute set
“He once slapped me, and I forcefully went to the police and reported him. He had been issued with a peace order way before.”
Another resident said her son cannot keep a job because he is always under the influence of drugs.
“He had gotten a job, but messed up and got fired,” she said.
“When he got fired, he asked to come back home. Within a week of his peace order, he started to disrespect me.
“He sometimes says he wishes I was dead and suspects that I’m not his mother, hence he hates me.”
Noah’s Ark Church’s reverend Ferbie Tshuma called on authorities to set up rehabilitation centres to help drug addicts in the city.
“If we are able to help three or five of the boys, it will be better because the community right now is down and depressed by what drugs have done to their children,” Tshuma said.
Tshuma said they were mobilising to house youths aged 30 to 35 who are trapped in addiction.
“Some have degrees. One was a doctor, but is now shut down by addiction,” she said.
“Another was deported from Germany. They are hard-headed and threaten to kill their parents.”
Authorities say the majority of admissions at Ingutsheni Psychiatric hospital in Bulawayo are drug addicts.
The hospital’s clinical director, Wellington Ranga, however, said the institution was not overcrowded.
The hospital currently has 630 patients, with a total bed capacity of 708.
“I cannot say that the hospital is overcrowded,” Ranga said.
“The reality is that there are wards with empty beds and others that are overcrowded, depending on which ward you focus on.”
He mentioned that the hospital required assistance, particularly with sanitary wear for female patients.
“We have enough rice for the next 15 months and adequate medication supplies for now,” Ranga said.
“What I am not sure about is the sanitary wear for females.
“In the female ward, we have 48 patients out of 65 beds, which means we have around 17 empty beds.”
Psychologist Sibangilizwe Maphosa said addiction was caused by a combination of biological, psychological, and social factors.
“Up to 50 to 70% of the risk for addiction can be attributed to genetic predisposition,” Maphosa said.
“Some people’s brains react more intensely to the high of a drug, making them more likely to seek it out again.”
Maphosa also highlighted mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety, and ADHD as contributing factors.
Environmental factors like stress, trauma, and exposure to substance abuse also play a significant role.
Globally, about 316 million people, representing 6% of the global population, used drugs in 2023.
In Zimbabwe, roughly one person in 30 households is affected by substance abuse.