SACENDU Project Background
SACENDU was established in 1996 and is a network of researchers, practitioners, and policy makers from various sentinel areas in South Africa. Up until June 2006, these sites comprised of Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth (PE), East London (EL), Gauteng Province and Mpumalanga Province (MP). As some sites were beginning to also include data from other towns/cities (e.g.Durban included data from Pietermaritzburg and East London included data from SANCA (South African National Council on Alcoholism) satellite offices in Butterworth, Grahamstown, Fort Beaufort, and King Williams Town), it was decided to begin to report data by province. From the second half of 2006, data were also collected from treatment centres in the Free State, Northern Cape and North-West. Given the limited number of centres in these Provinces, these three provinces have been combined into a regional group termed the “Central Region.” In the Limpopo and Mpumalanga Provinces, the same problem exists, and it was decided to combine this data and we now refer to these two provinces as the Northern Region.
The SACENDU Project initiative has several specific objectives:
- To identify changes in the nature and extent of AOD (Alcohol and Other Drug) abuse and emerging problems.
- To identify changes in alcohol and other drug-related negative consequences.
- To inform policy, planning and advocacy efforts at local and other levels.
- To support networks of local role players in the substance abuse area.
- To stimulate research in new or under-researched areas that is likely to provide useful data to inform policy/planning decisions.
- To facilitate South Africa’s full participation in international fora focusing on the epidemiological surveillance of drug abuse.

2023, October 16 - October 20
54th SACENDU Symposia (Online) - read more
- 16 Oct - Gauteng
- 17 Oct – Northern Region & Central Region
- 18 Oct – Kwa Zulu Natal
- 19 Oct – Eastern Cape
- 20 Oct – Western Cape
- SACENDU update (January- June 2022)
- SACENDU update (July - December 2021)
- SACENDU update (January - June 2021)
- SACENDU update (July – December 2020)
- SACENDU update (January - June 2020)
- SACENDU update (July-December 2019)
- SACENDU update (January - June 2019)
- SACENDU brief (January - June 2022)
- SACENDU brief (July- December 2021)
- SACENDU brief (January - June 2021)
- SACENDU brief (July – December 2020)
- SACENDU Brief (January - June 2020)
- SACENDU Brief (July - December 2019)
- SACENDU Brief (January - June 2019)
- Full report proceedings (July - December 2021) (Phase 51)
- Full report proceedings (January - June 2021) (Phase 50)
- Full report proceedings (July- December 2020) (Phase 49)
- Full report proceedings (January - June 2020) (Phase 48)
- Full report proceedings (July- December 2019) (Phase 47)
- Full report proceedings (January - June 2019) (Phase 46)
Eastern Cape
- “We Want to See Youth That Would Be Better People Than Us”: A Case Report on Addressing Adolescent Substance Use in Rural South Africa - Presented by Wilson Majee and Lisa Wegner
- SACENDU Eastern Cape Treatment Demand Data - Presented by Jodilee Erasmus
- Diverse roles of heterogenous drugs in facilitating crime in East London. The input of East London community - Presented by Dr Samkelo Bala
- Ramifications of Drug use Among Female Adolescents in Mission Location, Mnquma Municipality, Eastern Cape - Presented by Dr Samkelo Bala
- Peer‑led recovery groups for people with psychosis in South Africa (PRIZE): a randomized controlled feasibility trial - Presented by Bongwekazi Rapiya
- Community-based harm reduction services: Eastern Cape - Presented by Phumzile Mchunu
Gauteng
- National study of women sex workers’ use of alcohol and drugs and experience of GBV - Presented by Rachel Jewkes
- SACENDU Gauteng Treatment Demand Data - Presented by Nancy Hornsby
- Alcohol, and Violence Against Women and Girls : Pooled analyses from Low-middle Income Settings - Presented by Leane Ramsoomar Hariparsaad
- Exploring the Possible selves of multiple relapse substance misusers: The next steps - Presented by Dr Sue Bond
- Describing alcohol related rape cases and attrition from THE RAPSSA national study - Presented by Mercilene Machisa
- Community-based harm reduction services: Gauteng - Presented by Tendai Makina
- Service Quality Measures Project - Presented by Kim Johnson
Western Cape
- A Stepped Care, Peer-Delivered Intervention to Improve ART - Presented by Stefani Du Toit
- Effect of minimum unit pricing on consumption of unrecorded alcohol in South Africa and the Western Cape in particular, including strategies to minimize negative outcomes - Presented by Prof Charles Parry
- SACENDU Western Cape Treatment Demand Data - Presented by Jodilee Erasmus
- Life-years lost associated with mental illness in a South African medical insurance scheme - Presented by Mpho Tlali
- Impact of alcohol consumption on tuberculosis treatment outcomes - Presented by Chané Buys
- Community-based harm reduction services: Western Cape - Presented by Mildrett Stevens
- “On my maternity book it states that I needed counselling, yet I didn’t get it”: stigma, fear and barriers to accessing antenatal care for pregnant women who use alcohol - Presented by Jodilee Erasmus
Northern Region
- Building cooperative learning to address alcohol and other drug abuse- Presented by Maria van der Merwe
- SACENDU Treatment Demand Data Northern region - Presented by Nancy Hornsby
- Voice needs teeth to have bite’! Expanding community-led action-learning in rural South Africa - Presented by Maria van der Merwe
- Community-based harm reduction services: Mpumalanga - Presented by Philasande Madosi
KwaZulu Natal
- Mental Distress and Substance Use among Rural African Youth who are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) - Presented by Nomusa Mngoma
- SACENDU KZN Treatment Demand Data - Presented by Jodilee Erasmus
- SURVIVING BUT NOT THRIVING, understanding the association of chronic psychosis with or without substance use on burden of care and quality of life for caregivers - Presented by Dr JA Chetty
- A hidden epidemic: Engaging people who inject drugs into the HIV care continuum - Presented by Cecilia Milford and Michael Wilson
- Community-based harm reduction services: KwaZulu Natal - Presented by Ayanda Nyathi
Information regarding data analyses & recruitment of new treatment centres
Bi-annual meetings, reports, presentations, updates, regional data representations, treatment data collection forms or becoming part of the SACENDU network
For any queries, comments or concerns related to SACENDU