Former police minister Bheki Cele has sounded the alarm over South Africa’s escalating drug problem, saying the country has become a “playground for drugs and gangsters.”
Speaking before Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee on Political Interference in the Police, Cele reflected on a warning he received in 1994 during his training at Scotland Yard, where he was told that South Africa would eventually face a major drug and gangsterism crisis.
“This is exactly what we are witnessing now,” Cele told the committee. “South Africa is under siege when it comes to this drug issue.”
He explained that the country has become both a transit hub and a lucrative market for international drug traffickers.
“We have found a lucrative market in transit,” Cele said, pointing to three main factors fueling the crisis:
“Firstly, our aviation system connects us to the entire world. Secondly, our strong banking system makes it easy to move money. And thirdly, we have become both a transit and consumption playground for drugs.”
Cele’s remarks come amid growing concern over drug trafficking networks, gang-related violence, and the rise in drug abuse across South Africa’s major cities.
