Johannesburg, July 14 - The new African headquarters of an India-based Sufi spiritual foundation hopes to aid youth who are increasingly being afflicted by substance abuse.

The foundation was opened here Sunday by Hazrat Syed Muhammad Jilani Ashraf.

'Through my 15 years of travelling through the continent (of Africa) and the world, I have found an increasing concern for youth, irrespective of religious affiliation, being affected by drug and substance abuse,' Jilani said.

'At our dargah (shrine of a Muslim saint) in Kichocha, we have developed alternative Sufi methods to reaffirm moral values and spirituality in such youth in a three-month programme.'

Jilani said although there had been calls to run the programme here, it was far more practical to have the potential candidates for the programme in India, as the spiritual environment in which they would find themselves there was a critical part of the success of the programme.

'We have taken a number of youths from Europe and the US there already, with great success,' Jilani said, adding that a programme from the new office here would begin this September.