Factors influencing the sustainability of local drug action committees in the Free State Province : case study of Mangaung Municipality.

[摘要] The Local Drug Action Committee (LDAC) is the closest body to the community which ismade up of individuals from different stakeholders at a local level to coordinate the activitiesaimed at the prevention of substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking within thecommunities. Since the implementation of the committees, the sustainability of thesecommittees has been a challenge in the Free State Province. The study endeavoured toexplore factors which influence the sustainability of these committees in the Free StateProvince. A qualitative research approach that was explorative and descriptive in nature wasemployed. A case study design was used. Purposive sampling was applied to select theparticipants from two LDACs in Mangaung Municipality. A semi-structured interviewschedule was used to collect the data during individual in-depth interviews with fiveparticipants. Thematic content analysis was used to analyse the data. The main findingsindicated that there was a lack of knowledge among the committee members about theirroles, responsibilities and mandates. Their inability to coordinate the stakeholder activities aswell as the limited knowledge about the relationship between the Free State Mini DrugMaster Plan (FSMDMP) and the LDACs also appeared to be challenging. The mainconclusions drawn from the study are that despite the excellent structure of the LDACs tocoordinate the implementation of the FSMDMP, the members of the LDACs are neitherknowledgeable about nor capacitated to fulfil their roles and responsibilities to meet theintended requirements and implement the activities of the FSMDMP, factors which hampersustainability. The lack of financial support from Government to fund the activities of theLDACs in the Province is another major impediment in terms of sustainability.

[发布机构] University of the Witwatersrand