Dear Portfolio Committee on Social Development,

I am an individual ,unaffiliate with any organization .I read the meeting summary " Independent Tribunal For Social Assistance Appeal candidates: endorsement from the parliamentary monitoring group alerts .i want to comment on the point that the committee discussed about the proposed study trip to United Kingdom to learn International best practice in addressing Substance abuse and empowering South Africa Central Drug Authority to move towards a semi-autonomous model to overcome its limited mandate.

Honorable members ,I strongly believe that drugs and substance abuse is a crisis, and child protection is a serious matter that need to be attended and get resolved, but I guarantee the committee that going to other countries will never be the solution for South Africa ,the committee or whoever can go to different countries there will be no solution from that study ,it will just be a waste of state money.

Strategies that help other countries in drug and substance abuse including the child protection strategies can never and should never flourish in South Africa. The profound truth is that ,Drug and Substance Abuse is driven by complex different unique factors such as family norms and values, social ,economic, geographical factors, cultural values and security strength.

I believe that instead of of spending a lot of money to in travelling cost, accommodation and catering for those committee members ,the committee should sit down and start to categorize Social Work Services as essential service, survey and screen all families in communities and develop the strategies to listen to the problems of individual families at community level and act on that ,I think the best tour will be going to each family, correctional centers, rehabilitation centers where there are people that abuse drugs, and to places where people that abuse children and those women that abandoned children are and listen to the cause then deal with the main cause. Then the committee can at least get to google and check some strategies that those countries use. All solutions for social ills are in families at community level not in other countries.