TOO STONED TO TALK...OR GO TO PRIMARY SCHOOL

Mpho* is 13 years old, in grade 5 and is already addicted to dagga.
When children his age should be playing soccer or doing their
homework, he's out buying from the dealers - who operate from a hostel
right opposite his school.

His friend, Jimmy* was caught in possession of dagga by one of their
teachers, Lawrence Mukhari, at Shirinda Primary School in Mamelodi
West, Pretoria.

Mukhari said: "Jimmy had been absent for about four days before the
day I found dagga on him. I had heard a rumour from the other pupils
that he was using dagga. On the day, he looked high and that's when I
decided to search him. To my surprise, I found dagga on him."

'He looked high and that's when I decided to search him' Jimmy then
told his teacher that his friend Mpho had asked him to keep the dagga
for him.

Mpho admitted that he was getting the drugs from people that occupied
the hostel in front of the school, even though he didn't personally go
buy the drugs himself.

"I had not really believed the rumours because one doesn't expect
children that young to be engaging in substance abuse," said Mukhari.

Drug abuse by under-age children has become a major concern for the
Gauteng department of education, which has listed 49 schools around
the province which it considers "hot spots" for criminal, dangerous or
anti-social behaviour. Five of those schools on the lists are primary
schools at which drugs are listed as a problem.

Mpho's mother, who may also not be identified, is at the end of her
tether.

'To my surprise, I found dagga on him' She said Mpho and his older
brother Solomon*, 17, were constantly smoking dagga. Expressing her
anger in Setswana, she said that they smoked so much dagga it was as
if they ate it, especially the older boy.

When we visited his house, Mpho was sitting with Solomon and his
friend Joshua*, 16, behind a shack in the yard. When their mother
called them, Solomon and Joshua were as high as kites. The mother
confirmed that the two had been smoking dagga a few minutes before we
arrived.

"I don't know what to do with these children. At least Mpho still goes
to school but was absent today because his nose was bleeding terribly.
Solomon doesn't even go to school any more. He thinks he's a man and
can do whatever he wishes."

The mother said that she needed help because she had done all she
could to get them to mend their ways. According to her, their father
refused to help and said that there was nothing he could do with the
boys.

Solomon was so high that he could not even talk properly, let alone
hold his half-smoked "zol" steadily.

The mother wept as she told Saturday Star that her life was now
unbearable because of her children's habits.

"I have to lock up every time now, even when I go to the toilet
because they steal whatever they can lay their hands on. I look at
other children that go to school and wish that my children were like
that. Why is God punishing me?" she said as she wept.

The school's principal, Irvin Moyane, said that the hostel was a
problem because it was abandoned by the Tshwane metro and was now
occupied by unemployed people selling drugs to the community, even
primary schoolchildren.

"Our gates are always locked during school hours but we have no
control over what the children do after school. The drug trafficking
happens outside the school premises and after school hours," Moyane
said.

Station commander at the Mamelodi police station, Mokhele Seboloki,
said that they were aware of the problem and were doing something about it.

He said: "We are working on a programme whereby we will identify all
these 'hot spot' schools and work together with the schools'
managements to eliminate this problem."