“Today we can shine a light of hope in the darkness brought about by substance abuse”. That’s the word from mayor Patricia de Lille who opened the city’s latest treatment centre for drug and alcohol abuse today. The new facility, Matrix Clinic in Manenberg, forms part of a R37.8 million investment by the City of Cape Town to combat substance abuse in the metro this year. De Lille announced that 8 122 people have been through this program at the various treatment sites that have been erected across the city since 2008. All these sites offer a free 16-week alcohol and drug outpatient treatment program as well as support for affected families. The similar centres, in Milnerton, Tafelsig and Delft, have been hailed as a huge success by De Lille. “We are doing everything we can in this fight, and now more than ever before, we need communities to come forward and work with us”, says De Lille. The mayor emphasized that truly sustainable progress can only be achieved when people come together.