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UNCLAS PRETORIA 002277 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
For INL Lyle, AF/S, and AF/RSA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM SNAR ASEC SF
SUBJECT: SOUTH AFRICA: INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY 
REPORT 2009-2010 
 
¶1. Draft International Narcotics Control Strategy Report 
 
South Africa 
 
¶I. Summary 
 
¶1.  (SBU) While South Africa has greater law enforcement capacity 
than most African nations to fight domestic and international drug 
trafficking, production, and abuse, it is facing myriad daunting law 
enforcement challenges, including serious problems with violent 
crime, especially in aggravated residence and small business 
robbery, carjacking, and sexual offenses.  The country is an 
important transit area for cocaine (from South America) and heroin 
(from Afghanistan and East Asia) primarily destined for Southern 
African and European markets.  South Africa is a large producer of 
cannabis.  According to South Africa's Central Drug Authority, an 
estimated nine percent of the population uses cannabis.  Some of 
South Africa's cannabis production also finds its way to Europe 
(primarily the UK).  South Africa may also be the world's largest 
consumer of Mandrax, a variant of methaqualone, an amphetamine-type 
stimulant.  Mandrax is a preferred drug of abuse in South Africa and 
is often used in combination with cannabis; it is smuggled, 
primarily from China, India and other sources.  South Africa is a 
significant transit country for precursor chemicals.   According to 
the Organized Crime Threat Analysis prepared by the South African 
Police Service (SAPS) Annual Report 2008-2009 most of the organized 
crime syndicates in South Africa are foreign-led-primarily Nigerian, 
followed by Pakistani and Indian syndicates.  Chinese organized 
crime is also present.  The Prevention of Organized Crime Act (POCA, 
1988), particularly its asset forfeiture section, is a potentially 
useful tool for law enforcement.  South Africa is a party to the 
1988 UN Drug Convention. 
 
II. Status of Country 
 
¶2.  (SBU) As the most prosperous and one of the most democratic 
countries on the continent, South Africa still attracts migrants 
from elsewhere in Africa, especially Zimbabwe, despite a rash of 
xenophobic attacks in 2008 in which 62 people were killed.  The 
country's 1800 mile coastline and 3,100 mile porous land border, 
coupled with South Africa's relative prosperity have resulted in the 
increased use of its territory for the transshipment of contraband 
of all kinds, including narcotics.  An overloaded criminal justice 
system, straining hard just to deal with "street crime," makes South 
Africa a tempting target for international organized crime groups of 
all types.  South Africa has the most developed transportation, 
communications and banking systems in Sub-Saharan Africa.  The 
country's modern telecommunications systems (particularly cellular 
telephones), its direct air links with South America, Asia and 
Europe, and its permeable land borders provide opportunities for 
regional and international trafficking in all forms.   Sanctions 
busting practices, prevalent in the apartheid era, have continued 
under a different guise: instead of smuggling embargoed items, drugs 
and other illicit items are now smuggled into and out of South 
Africa.  South Africa is both an importer and an exporter of drugs 
(marijuana produced on its own territory) and precursor chemicals. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Despite the progress it has made coping with organized 
crime, South Africa is the origin, transit point or terminus of many 
major drug smuggling routes.  Many Nigerians live in South Africa, 
many of them illegally, and dominate the drug trade in the country. 
Cannabis is cultivated in South Africa, as well as imported from 
neighboring countries (Swaziland, Lesotho, Mozambique, Zimbabwe), 
and exported to neighboring countries (e.g., Namibia) and Europe 
Qand exported to neighboring countries (e.g., Namibia) and Europe 
(mainly Holland, UK) as well as consumed in South Africa itself. 
Methamphetamine (locally known as "tik") is manufactured in South 
Africa for local consumption, and there has been an explosion in 
usage, especially in Cape Town and, more recently, in Pretoria. Both 
heroin and cocaine are imported into South Africa (from Asia and 
Latin America, respectively), and also exported to Europe, Australia 
and even the U.S. and Canada.   Cocaine from South America generally 
transits through Brazil, particularly Sao Paolo, and further moves 
through Angola and Namibia en route to South Africa.  Regular 1-2 
kilogram quantity seizures of cocaine at O.R Tambo International 
Airport in Johannesburg also indicate that a large volume of cocaine 
moves directly from Brazil to South Africa.  To curb this 
trafficking, especially as the 2010 World Cup approaches, South 
Africa needs increased international cooperation and assistance in 
the effective use of international controlled deliveries and 
training. 
 
 
¶4.  (SBU) South Africa ranks among the world's largest producers of 
cannabis.  South Africa's most widely used drug is marijuana, 
followed by methaqualone (Mandrax), often used in combination with 
marijuana (locally called "white pipe"). Most cannabis exports go to 
Europe and the UK.  In terms of use of narcotics, heroin is a 
particularly dangerous new trend among South Africans, who 
traditionally only used "dagga" (the local name for marijuana).  The 
Medical Research Council reported in 2008 that heroin abuse is 
increasing in the provinces of Gauteng, Mpumalanga and the Western 
 
Cape.  According to press reports, heroin is widely abused in 
Pretoria.  South Africa is becoming a larger producer of synthetic 
drugs, mainly Mandrax and methamphetamine, with precursor chemicals 
smuggled in and labs established domestically. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) As in previous years, a number of clandestine narcotics 
laboratories were dismantled. In 2008, in the province of Kwa-Zulu 
Natal, SAPS (South Africa Police Service) introduced an initiative 
to root out clandestine laboratories through training and 
partnership with the local chemical industry.  The "South African 
Community Epidemiology Network on Drug Use" (SACENDU) reported that 
although alcohol remains the dominant substance of abuse in South 
Africa, cannabis and Mandrax alone or in combination continue to be 
significant drugs of abuse. "Club drugs" and methamphetamine abuse 
are emerging as a major concern, especially in Cape Town and 
Pretoria where the increase in treatment demand for methamphetamine 
addiction treatment is dramatic. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Methamphetamine has emerged as the main substance of abuse 
among the young in Cape Town and in Pretoria.  In Cape Town, 
two-thirds of drug abusers are reported to be using tik as a primary 
or secondary substance of abuse.  The increase in treatment 
admissions for methamphetamine-related problems in Cape Town 
represented the fastest increase in admissions for a particular drug 
ever noted in the country, and of particular concern is the large 
number of adolescent users.   This increased use of methamphetamine 
is "strongly linked to gang culture on the Cape Flats."  According 
to the Medical Research Council (MRC), Cape Town has become the 
methamphetamine capital of South Africa, with 98 percent of patients 
seen across the provinces coming from this city.  The MRC estimates 
that nowhere else in the world has Tic grown as quickly as in the 
poorer colored communities of the Western Cape, surpassing mandrax 
as the drug of choice.  Five years ago just 15 cases involving Tik 
were reported in the Western Cape. Last year this had increased to 
2,628 cases with 91 percent of the users being colored males between 
the ages of 12 and 21.  The increase in the use and addiction of Tik 
is not only a social problem, but is having a larger impact on 
economic and security issues.  According to the South African Police 
Services (SAPS), 60 percent of all crimes are related to substance 
abuse, and in the Western Cape that figure is closer to 80 percent 
largely as a result if Tik.  The perpetrators of these crimes are 
either under the influence of Tik, or trying to secure money for 
their next fix. The Central Drug Authority estimates that the 
socio-economic costs of drug abuse are R20 billion every year.  The 
direct economic impact of Tik can be found in a study released in 
July, 2008, by the Small Business Project in the Western Cape.  The 
study found that more than half of small businesses in the region 
had experienced at least one incident of crime in the last year. 
Small businesses lose up to 20 percent of their turnover to crime. 
According to the government's crime statistics, in 2008-9 robberies 
of business premises increased by 47.4 percent from the previous 
year.  The Institute for Security Studies released a report in May 
2007 which said that while colored gangs are believed to produce and 
control Tik, the Chinese mafia is the main supplier of the 
production ingredients. 
 
III. Country Actions against Drugs in 2009 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Policy Initiatives. Combating the use of, production of, 
and trafficking in illicit narcotics remains an important component 
of the anticrime agenda of the South African Government (SAG).  The 
Qof the anticrime agenda of the South African Government (SAG).  The 
U.S. co-sponsored a drug prevention best practices conference in 
Cape Town October 19-21 as part of the Central Drug Authority's 
stepped up drug prevention awareness effort.   The SAG tends to 
target its limited anti-crime resources on serious, violent and 
domestic crime, but is making greater efforts to curb the substance 
abuse it acknowledges is at the root of much violent crime.  South 
Africa still has one of the world's highest rates of murder and 
rape.  According to the South African Police Service Annual Report 
for 2008/9, the murder rate fell 3.4 percent and sexual offenses 
increased 12 percent (note: sexual offenses is a new category of 
crime statistics replacing the categories of rape and indecent 
assault, so the comparison with previous statistics is not fully 
valid.  End note); however, aggravated robbery increased .8 percent, 
and robberies at residential premises increased by 27.3 percent. 
The porous borders are crossed daily by criminals trafficking in all 
sorts of contraband, including illicit drugs, stolen cars, illegal 
firearms, diamonds, precious metals, and human beings.   Following 
the April 22 election of President Jacob Zuma, the Ministry of 
Safety and Security was renamed the Police Ministry, and Zuma 
insider Bheki Cele was appointed national Police Commissioner, 
ending a long interim period wherein the SAPS were run by an acting 
commissioner as former commissioner Selebi awaited trial on 
corruption charges.   The Cabinet-level interagency "Justice 
Cluster" works to help coordinate the law enforcement and criminal 
justice system's responses to various challenges.  Reconsideration 
is underway of decisions taken in 2003 to disband and integrate 
specialized police burueas, such as the Narcotics Bureau and the 
Child Protections Units.  The loss of specialized drug enforcement 
experience has impeded counternarcotics progress.  Another blow was 
the 2008 elimination of the Directorate of Special Operations of the 
 
National Prosecuting Authority (popularly know as "The Scorpions"), 
an elite unit created to investigate fraud that later expanded into 
drug investigation.  The successor to the Scorpions, known as the 
"Hawks," is still largely untested but has claimed credit for 
several important drug busts.  The Central Drug Authority maintains 
and updates as necessary the "national drug master plan."  Other SAG 
agencies involved in counter narcotics efforts include-in varying 
degrees-the Home Affairs Department, the Customs Service, and the 
Border Police (a part of SAPS).  The Border Police have 55 land 
border posts, 10 air-border posts and 9 sea-border posts. 
Intelligence organizations and the port and airport authorities also 
have a role in identifying and suppressing drug trafficking.  The 
SAPS 2008/2009 Annual Report noted that an analysis of threats from 
organized crime groups over the past decade identified drug crimes 
as accounting for the largest proportion of the known threats.  The 
report said that drug smuggling as an organized crime activity 
usually ties in with other aspects of organized crime, such as 
diamond smuggling, gold smuggling, abalone pirating and vehicle 
hijacking. SAPS concluded that drugs such as Mandrax, cocaine, 
heroin, Ecstasy and Tik pose major threats to South Africa since 
they lead to violent crime such as murder, attempted murder, rape 
and assaults. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Law Enforcement Efforts.  Drug-related crimes, according 
to the annual SAPS 2008/9 Report increased by a statistically 
insignificant 4 percent from the 2007/2008 report.  There were 
109,134 drug-related crimes in 2008.   Additional enforcement 
successes were reported in the press.  On January 29, 2009, 230 
kilograms of cocaine were seized in Durban.  On September 14, 2009, 
six metric tons of hashish and 116 kilograms of cocaine were seized 
in Durban.  SAPS' Airport Interdiction Unit makes weekly seizures of 
cocaine from South America and heroin from Pakistan at the 
Johannesburg and Cape Town Airports. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Corruption.  Accusations of police corruption are 
frequent.  Credible evidence of narcotics-related corruption among 
South African law enforcement officials has not, however, been 
brought to light.  Some suspect that the reported quantities of 
seized drugs are lower than actual seizures, and that the difference 
finds its way back out on the street.  Some amount of corruption 
among border control officials does appear to contribute to the 
permeability of South Africa's borders.  As a matter of policy, 
however, the South African government does not encourage or 
facilitate the illicit production or distribution of narcotic or 
psychotropic drugs or other controlled substances, or the laundering 
of proceeds from illegal drug transactions.  Likewise, no senior 
official of the federal government is known to engage in, encourage 
or facilitate such illicit production, or to launder proceeds of 
illegal drug transactions. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Agreements and Treaties.  South Africa is a party to the 
1988 UN Drug Convention, the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic 
Substances, and the 1961 UN Single Convention as amended by the 1972 
Protocol. South Africa is a party to the UN Convention against 
Corruption, and is also a party to the UN Convention against 
Transnational Organized Crime and its protocols against trafficking 
in persons, migrant smuggling and illegal manufacturing and 
trafficking in firearms. The U.S. and South Africa have bilateral 
extradition and mutual legal assistance agreements in force.  All 
extradition matters in recent years, however, have been put on hold 
Qextradition matters in recent years, however, have been put on hold 
because of appeals raised by fugitives challenging the validity of 
the U.S.-South African extradition treaty.  On January 21, 2009, the 
South African Constitutional Court ruled that the treaty was valid. 
Government officials have indicated that they intend to move quickly 
on the pending extradition cases.  Both countries have also signed a 
Letter of Agreement on Anticrime and Counter-narcotics Assistance 
which provides for U.S. training and commodity assistance to several 
South African law enforcement agencies.  In 2000, the U.S. and South 
Africa signed a Customs Mutual Assistance Agreement. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Cultivation/Production. Cannabis or "dagga" grows wild in 
Southern Africa and is a traditional crop in many rural areas of 
South Africa, particularly the Eastern Cape and Kwa-Zulu Natal 
provinces.  It also grows wild and is cultivated in neighboring 
Swaziland and Lesotho.  It is possible to have three cannabis crops 
a year on the same piece of land in South Africa.  Most South 
African cannabis is consumed domestically or in the region. 
Increasing amounts are, however, being seized in continental Europe 
and the UK.  Some top-end estimates are that 20,000 to 30,000 
hectares of arable land are used to grow cannabis, although most 
observers estimate the area dedicated to illicit cannabis to be 
about 1,500-2,000 hectares.  Although the police force, with some 
success, sprays cannabis in South Africa, Swaziland, and Lesotho, 
illicit street prices never seem to rise-an indication of 
uninterrupted supply.  Mandrax, amphetamine, and methamphetamine are 
also produced in South Africa for domestic consumption.  Among South 
Africans, "dagga" and Mandrax are the traditional drugs of choice; 
in more recent years, there has been rising interest in domestically 
produced amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) and imported heroin. 
Drug flow/Transit.  Significant amounts of cocaine reach South 
Africa from South America.  Cocaine is readily available on the 
 
local illicit market.  Cocaine is mainly brought in by Nigerian 
syndicates, or people who work for them.  South Africa, once a 
country of transshipment, has become a country with its own market. 
The consumption of cocaine, both powder and crystalline ("crack"), 
is on the increase.  Heroin is smuggled into South Africa from 
Southeast and Southwest Asia, with some moving on to the U.S. and 
Europe.  Most heroin trafficked into South Africa is intended for 
domestic consumption.  Consumption of heroin among South African 
youth has increased with the advent of smokable heroin.  An 
additional risk in terms of intravenous drug abuse is HIV/AIDS, a 
major health issue in South Africa.  South Africans also import 
"dagga" from Swaziland and Lesotho, considering it to be of higher 
quality than the domestic version.  Abuse of methaqualone (Mandrax) 
and other ATS tablets is on the rise too, especially among urban 
youth.  Even Ecstasy finds its way into townships.  Diverted 
precursor chemicals, some produced locally and some imported into 
South Africa, are also a growing problem.  Many drug liaison 
officers, as well as South African Police Service officers, believe 
that South Africa is becoming a place for traffickers to warehouse 
their stocks of various drugs before sending them on to other 
countries.  They believe that criminals view South Africa as a "weak 
enforcement" option for such warehousing operations.  Nigerian, 
Pakistani, Indian, Colombian, Venezuelan, and Chinese syndicates are 
all taking advantage of the fact that South Africa, in addition to 
"weak enforcement," has excellent financial, transportation, and 
communications facilities.  Traffickers of Nigerian origin may be 
the most established of organized crime groups operating in South 
Africa.  Using South Africa as their base for world-wide operations, 
they are involved in virtually every aspect of drug trafficking. 
 
¶12.  (SBU) South Africa remained among the world's major importers 
of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine in 2009, listing its annual 
legitimate requirement for both chemicals at 20,000 kg. each; 
however, South Africa's imports of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine 
have declined each year for the past three years.  The South African 
Police Service's Chemical Control Program is by far the most 
progressive in Africa, but the potential for diversion of ephedrine 
and pseudoephedrine remains an area of concern.  South Africa 
participates in the UN-sponsored program Project Prism and is a 
member of the Project Prism Task Force, serving as the focal point 
for Africa.  South Africa is actively involved in the law 
enforcement initiatives being developed pursuant to Project Prism to 
halt the diversion of precursors to illicit chemical trafficking and 
drug manufacturing organizations around the world. 
 
¶13.  (SBU) Drug trafficking via South African airports and the crew 
of the national carrier South African Airways (SAA) remains a 
concern.  The Airport Company of South Africa (ACSA), which runs all 
of the international airports in the country, recently revised 
contracting requirements for baggage handlers to deal with theft and 
smuggling issues.  Equity Aviators, which used temporary staff and 
subcontractors for its security screening processes has lost its 
ACSA permit.  Baggage handling companies are now required to hire 
permanent staff in to order to receive an ACSA permit. 
 
¶14.  (SBU) Two SAA crews were detained in the UK for drug smuggling 
in January and February 2009.  SAA announced the creation of a task 
team in February 2009 to probe a second drug bust of crew members in 
London on suspicions of carrying five kilograms of cocaine.  The 
QLondon on suspicions of carrying five kilograms of cocaine.  The 
measures introduced by SAA following the January incident included 
changing security systems , adding physical searches of bags, and 
suing sniffer dogs airside.  These and other measures will now be 
extended across all SAA flights.  Poorly paid screening staff 
remains a concern. 
 
¶15.  (SBU) Domestic Programs/Demand Reduction. South Africa has had 
a long history of Mandrax and "dagga" (cannabis) abuse; drug 
counselors have noted large increases in the number of patients 
seeking treatment for crack and heroin addiction.  There are many 
people seeking treatment who are unable to register with any 
program, and those who manage to enter a rehabilitation program find 
that available services are constrained by lack of resources. 
Education of the general public about the dangers of drug addiction 
remains a high priority for the government.  SAPS are continuing 
their visible crime deterrence policy by organizing visits and 
counternarcotics lectures in schools with assistance from the 
Department of Education and NGOs.  The objective is to curb the 
influence of illegal drugs among children.  The National Awareness 
Program, sponsored by the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime 
(UNODC), the Department of Police and the Central Drug Authority, 
and originally launched in Cape Town in 2003, continues to present 
facts on drugs and their dangers to young people, students and 
others. 
 
¶16.  (SBU) Certain successes have been achieved within the 
correctional system as well, mainly through the efforts of NGOs.  In 
South African prisons, up to 70 percent of inmates are drug users 
(with an even higher percentage among incarcerated defendants 
awaiting trial), according to NGO contacts.  Among the main 
rehabilitation program organizers is the South African National 
Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (SANCA), KHULISA, the 
 
Center for Socio-Legal Studies and Creative Education with Youth at 
Risk, the President's Award for Youth Empowerment, and the National 
Institute for Crime Prevention and the Reintegration of Offenders 
(NICRO).  "Peer" counselors, trained by KHULISA within the prison 
system, continue to organize counternarcotics lectures and seminars 
for inmates.  Some of the government-employed prison officials have 
also received basic training in this area. 
 
IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs 
 
 
¶17.  (SBU) Policy Initiatives. U.S. law enforcement officers from 
the DEA, FBI, DHS/ICE (Immigration & Customs Enforcement), the 
Secret Service, and the State Department's Security Office and 
Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) 
successfully cooperate with their South African counterparts. The 
U.S. also continues to urge the SAG to strengthen its legislation 
and its law enforcement system to be able to prosecute more 
sophisticated organized criminal activities, including drug 
trafficking.  Some U.S. training has been provided to the national 
police, the metropolitan police forces of Johannesburg and Tshwane 
(Pretoria), the Special Investigating Unit (since disbanded), the 
Department of Home Affairs, the Customs and Revenue Service, and 
others.  The U.S. through State INL sponsored a drug prevention best 
practices conference in Cape Town September 19-21, 2009. 
 
¶18.  (SBU) The Road Ahead. Bilateral links between the United States 
and South African law enforcement communities are in the interest of 
both countries and even closer cooperation in the future is in both 
sides' interest. 
 
GIPS