South African Police Service and Community Partnership in combating and prevention of drug abuse in Ga-Rankuwa Township, Gauteng.

M.Tech. Policing.South Africa experience extreme challenges of property and violent crime mostly emanating from substance abuse, which also affect its economic growth and the future of the youth. One of the missions for the SAPS is to participate in efforts to address the causes of crime. To achieve this requires cooperation with all communities and all spheres of Government. Drug abuse is a major problem especially in Gauteng Province. It has corrupted sports, social events like parties, and schools. Many of those who are addicted to drugs commit other crimes to generate resources to sustain their dependency, thus giving rise to a secondary effect through victimising others. There is a growing consensus among criminal justice professionals and researchers that community-based organisations play a significant role in the prevention and combating of crime. The government programs alone cannot stop the production, manufacture and distribution of drugs or keep people from using them. True progress requires an active support and participation of key leaders, professionals and concerned citizens at the local level. This study is designed to explore the South African Police Service and community partnership in combating and prevention of drug abuse in Ga-Rankuwa Township. The main aim of this study was to determine the role that is played by the police and the community-based organisations to prevent and combat drug abuse. It specifically investigated the functional strategies of the police and community-based organisations, evaluated the implementation of those strategies, determined the challenges experienced, and lastly identified the coping mechanisms that can that can be adopted by the police and community-based organisations in prevention and combating of drug abuse. This study was conducted in Ga- Rankuwa Township within the Police station, the Local Churches and the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) that have taken the social crime prevention role by rehabilitating the drug abusers and attempting to prevent drug abuse through voluntary community programs. The study adopted a combination of both quantitative and qualitative research design. The study population characteristics identified in Ga-Rankuwa therefore consisted of male and female South Africans and Foreign nationals of 18 years and above, the employed, selfemployed and unemployed. A total sample size of 80 ordinary community members who responded to the survey was drawn from the population through stratified random sampling v method. From the Community-based organisations a total sample of 10 staff were identified for oral interviews by means of snowball sampling method. Furthermore, from the Ga-Rankuwa police station a total sample of 6 police officials was drawn also by using snowball sampling method who also participated in oral interviews. All the oral interviews were conducted by means of semi-structured interviews. Quantitative data generated from this study was analysed by an expert statistician who used STATA V 12 statistical software while qualitative data was analyzed by the researcher through identifying common themes from the respondents description of their experiences. Among other findings, this study revealed that a high percentage of ordinary community members are satisfied with the performance of Community-based organisations than that of the police in preventing and combating drug abuse. The study found that most crime is committed by drug abusers and that the Community Policing Forum (CPF) is not in operation. In conclusion, there is lack of effective partnership between the police and community-based organisations which is caused by lack of trust, police corruption and cynicism. Furthermore, the study revealed that there is a great lack of resources that may advance the success of the interventions taken by the police and the community-based organisations to prevent and combat drug abuse. This study therefore recommends among other that the Community Policing Forum should be reviewed and reformed which will result in restoration of trust and mutual aid between the police, the community-based organisations and the society in broad. Capacity building should be increased and enhanced in community-based organisations to improve the initiatives against drug abuse prevention and combating