Community Alerts/Tumi Mokgatle/Phokeng-Rustenburg/02 August 2019

Phokeng is known as the capital of the mining community of Bafokeng who is widely celebrated as the leading self-developing community post-1994. However, like most small-town mining community Phokeng is battling a silent monster around the drug called nyaope. More and more of the young people have found solace to the drug escaping the claws of unemployment which is on the increase.
Phokeng complex is swimming with young people who are now plying their trade as car guards trying to solicit for a fee enough to buy slap chips or fat cake and a quick fix.
Drugs are not unique to Phokeng in fact it is now a South African phenomenon. However, we can attribute the use of drugs to lack of sports facilities, employment opportunities and business opportunities that would better develop the youth. Accessibility of the drug makes it easy for young people to be entrapped to a moment of illusion and temporarily forget about the pain of unemployment.The drug problem in Phokeng can best be associated with unemployment however we cannot dismiss the socio ills that come with lifestyle trends associated with modern urban groove and the pressure to fit in. By Tumi Mokgatle