Rehabilitation and Food Distribution Programs in South Africa

Twenty-five years after the end of the apartheid, almost a third of South Africans of working age are unemployed and inequality continues. South Africa is a country where inequalities exist between different social groups; while there are large fortunes and the capitals are among the main business centers in Africa, about a quarter of the South African population is unemployed and lives on less than US$1.25 a day.

Experts warn that a heroin crisis is brewing, which has already hit the country’s poorest and is likely to continue multiplying. In the last five years the heroin market has grown profoundly. It is an important phenomenon, not only in large cities, but also in small cities.

Since 1998, REMAR in South Africa has been offering a free centre for rehabilitation and social reintegration for drug addicts. In this country, the NGO REMAR has developed an important role in the area of detoxification, creating partnerships with the police, other NGOs and hospitals such as South-Rand, Chris Hani Baragwanath no Swetto and Hillbrow and Helen Joseph Hospital.

Every day, dozens of families come to REMAR in the south of Johannesburg, The Hill, to ask for food because of the problems they are experiencing, as many families are foreign Africans, their lives are at risk because they have no work, food or economic resources to provide for their families.

In these photos, we see the volunteers from the NGO Remar in South Africa distributing bread in our vehicle, wearing masks and complying with the safety regulations in times the coronavirus pandemic.