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South Africa

The main drugs of choice in South Africa are alcohol, cannabis, heroin and methamphetamine. Methamphetamine is locally known as tik. Most heroin is smoked mixed with cannabis, a popular mix called whoonga, cocktail or nyope. Heroin injection, however, has been increasing in recent years. 


Harm reduction programmes were introduced in South Africa only in 2014, focusing on PWID. South Africa counts with a progressive legal framework around drug policies, supporting a harm reduction approach. Nevertheless, and despite being considered a middle-income country, government funding for harm reduction is still very limited. Moral issues around drugs play an important role in this disparity. 

Mainline in South Africa
With the help of Bridging the Gaps Program, in 2 years’ time 3 Needles and Syringe Programmes (NSP) for People who Inject Drugs (PWID) were built and developed in 3 key-cities (Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria).

Some of the activities offered by the programmes are HIV prevention and testing, needle and syringe distribution, drop in centres, and referral to other services.


On the advocacy side
Mainline supports the development of two recently born regional drug users’ networks, documentation of human rights violation towards PWUD, media articles on human rights for PWUD and national events to debate drug policies.

Read here one excellent example of such an event: the RUN 2016 - SA Drug Policy Week.


As a result of advocacy efforts
Three new Opiate Substitution Treatment (OST) pilots will start in 2017 in Durban (Kwazulu Natal), Cape Town (Western Cape) and Pretoria (Gauteng). To support this, Mainline recently delivered a training on OST to South African outreach workers, together with our local partners.

Training focused on understanding the medical aspects of OST and possibilities of psychosocial assistance for OST clients. Read more about the training

Want to know more?

Our partners in South Africa
South Africa in context
News from South Africa

Contact

Country Manager South Africa: Muna Handulle

E-mail: m.handulle@mainline.nl

Track record

Read a track record on harm reduction in South Africa here.

Our current projects


Hanoi field lab for stimulant harm reduction

October 2019 marked the start of a cutting edge new initiative. With the support of Open Society Foundation, Mainline and SCDI in Vietnam are building expertise to support people who use stimulant drugs. The core motivation to do so is the sharp rise in the use of crystal meth in the South Asian region and the lack of a coordinated harm reduction response.

> Read more
nationaal

Chemsex

The use of drugs during sex is a growing worldwide phenomenon, especially among men who have sex with men (MSM). Among professionals, sex under the influence of drugs by MSM is known as 'chemsex'.   

> Read more

Vietnam

In the last decade, the use of methamphetamine – also referred to as ‘meth’ or ‘ice’ – has increased significantly throughout Southeast Asia. And Vietnam is not an exception.

> Read more

Advocacy for women who use drugs in the MENA region

Mainline works with the Middle East and North Africa Harm Reduction Association (MENAHRA) to improve the position of women who use drugs (WWUD). We designed a manual for local organisations in the MENA region. The aim of this manual is to provide practical guidelines to advocate for harm reduction services for women. 

> Read more
internationaal

Indonesia

Indonesia (pop. 254 million) is located in Southeast Asia and comprises 17,000 islands and 34 provinces.

> Read more
internationaal

Innovations in Pakistan

Harm reduction programmes to improve the health and rights of People Who Use Drugs (PWUD) show similarities all over the world. In countries where PWUD lack access of quality harm reduction services; are being criminalised; and human rights are being violated, Mainline works hard to promote health and rights to the often ostracised and hidden populations. 

> Read more

Reducing harms in the work environment

Together with activists and peer- and outreach workers in South Africa, Mainline worked on a practical guide about involving peers in harm reduction work.

> Read more
internationaal

Tanzania

Heroin use has increased enormously in Tanzania and other East African countries in recent years. East Africa is situated along the heroin trafficking routes from Afghanistan to Western Europe, and this has also affected local consumption. It is estimated that there are 30,000 people who inject heroin in Tanzania wherein at least 10,000 of them live in the capital Dar es Salaam. People who use drugs in Tanzania are marginalised and cope with infectious diseases, overdose and police brutality. In 2019, Mainline partnered with Mukikute to build better health services for this vulnerable group of people.

> Read more

Harm reduction for stimulant users

A MAINLINE-GIZ STUDY

With the support of the Global Partnership on Drug Policies and Development (GPDPD), a project implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, a team of three Mainline researchers conducted a study into effective harm reduction interventions for stimulant users. The study includes a review of the evidence for different harm reduction strategies for stimulants and a detailed description of seven good practices in different world regions.  

> Read more
internationaal

Bridging the Gaps2: 2016 - 2020

Indonesia, Kenya, Nepal, Pakistan, South Africa, Tanzania and Vietnam (new!)

The Bridging the Gaps programme started its second phase in January 2016 and will continue to 2020. The shared goals remain the same as the first programme: to improve the health and rights of people who use drugs, sex workers and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs fundsBridging the Gaps. Mainline is one of the lead organisations to focus on the health and rights of people who use drugs. 

> Read more
internationaal

Nepal

Nepal has a long history of drug use. Cannabis is sanctioned for use on certain religious occasions. The use of smoked opium has been quite common in the country. But drug use only began to be seen as a problem in the country in the mid-1960s and early 1970s with the influx of travelling hippies from Europe and the US.

> Read more

Train-the-trainer programme

In 2017, Mainline launched its first international train-the-trainer (ToT) programme. The objective of the programme is to develop the in-house training capacity of local partner organisations, making Mainlines capacity building efforts more sustainable in the long term.

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Multi-country study on harm reduction and community involvement

Funded by Bridging the Gaps, this study aimed to understand how involvement of people who use drugs can influence the quality and availability of harm reduction services. The study took place in three countries - Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan and South Africa.

> Read more

Mainline: doping in recreational sports

Although evidence is somewhat scattered, the use of performance and image enhancing drugs (PIEDs) is long said to be on the rise in the recreational sport scene. It concerns substances that help people lose weight and/or build stronger muscles. Mainline is part of a new European project that aims to test two online interventions around PIED use. 

> Read more
internationaal

Kenya

Kenya (population 53 million) is an East-African country on the Indian Ocean that borders Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, South-Sudan and Ethiopia. 

> Read more
internationaal

South Africa

The main drugs of choice in South Africa are alcohol, cannabis, heroin and methamphetamine. Methamphetamine is locally known as tik. Most heroin is smoked mixed with cannabis, a popular mix called whoonga, cocktail or nyope. Heroin injection, however, has been increasing in recent years. 

> Read more

Our finished projects

internationaal

Georgia

Transition management in Georgia: everyone deserves a second chance!

Everyone deserves a second chance in life. But how can you best support people who were just released from prison? What does quality support look like where it comes to the rehabilitation and resocialisation of inmates, former inmates and probationers? And what level of additional support does a person who uses drugs need in this process? A new project in Georgia intends to set the standard.

> Read more
nationaal

The Netherlands

Strong connections between use of drugs and unsafe sex work

On the initiative of Mainline, Prostitutie & Gezondheidscentrum 292 / Prostitution & Health Centre 292, P&G292 carried out a survey of male and transgender sex workers between November 2013 and February 2014 in close cooperation with the Public Health Service of Amsterdam (GGD).

> Read more
internationaal

Bridging the Gaps1: 2011 - 2015

Indonesia, Kenya, Nepal, Pakistan, South Africa and Tanzania (BtG2)

In the context of the Bridging the Gaps program, Mainline works with local partners in five countries to improve the health and human rights of drug users.

> Read more
internationaal

Georgia

Back to Society

Over two years ago, a new government came to power in Georgia. Many prisoners were then released at a rapid pace. They were not well prepared for their release and encountered problems with reintegration. Among these persons were many who use drugs.

> Read more
nationaal

The Netherlands & Belgium

Prevention of GHB overdose

In the Netherlands and Belgium, the number of young people frequently using gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) has been rising. GHB is used in nightlife. It is estimated that in the Netherlands alone there is a group of 22,000 people who use GHB daily and who have developed a strong physical dependence on GHB.

> Read more
internationaal

Georgia

Hepatitis C care for PUD

From 2014 till 2015 Mainline, together with its local partner Tanadgoma, implemented a series of interventions around Hepatitis C (HCV). The aim of the project was to understand the gaps and barriers to enrolment in the care cascade of hepatitis C prevention and treatment from the community perspective.

> Read more
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