On
Special Assignment this week:
Episode Title: Dik Getik
Date: Tuesday, 3 March 2009
Time: 21h30
Channel: SABC 3
Tonight Special Assignment relaunches with a new look, feel and format.
The new-look premiere episode looks at the toll drug abuse is taking on communities and social services in the Western Cape.
Dik Getik uncovers the unspoken suffering of the families of tik addicts - many of whom live in fear of their loved ones who become strangers when they are high on crystal methamphetamine.
Strung-out addicts suffering from tik-induced psychosis are flooding hospital emergency rooms. Mothers smoke tik during pregnancy and neonatal wards are struggling to cope with addicted newborns.
The already overburdened healthcare system is buckling under the strain.
Then there are the family members who fear for their lives every day, living with tik addicts.
Special Assignment speaks with Ellen Pakkies, whose case made national headlines last year. Pakkies strangled her own son to death, fearing for her safety after years of his tik abuse. The show also speaks to other parents who barricade themselves inside their own homes against their psychotic children.
The show also captures footage of the effects of the drug on addicts. One such addict is a man whose father called the police to their house one night to help him control his son. As the cameras roll, the young man , normal a second before, suddenly shifts into a rage, and lunges at the cameraman.
Special Assignment is produced Sasha Wales-Smith.