Addicts to nyaope , made with anti - retrovirals
used to treat HIV , are leaving their homes to beg
and feed their habit .
Johannesburg , South Africa - It is just after
noon and three youngsters walk towards a petrol
station outside downtown Johannesburg in
Gauteng, the country 's richest and most populous
province. Unphased by the icy winter chill in the
air, they do not look older than 16.
One - a young woman - eagerly scavenges through
a bin looking for food. The other two follow
closely behind , chatting as they nibble on a
packet of chips .
To most they would merely appear to be street
beggars .
But there is more to them . They are drug
addicts , hooked on South Africa' s latest drug
cocktail : nyaope . And their untamed addiction
has forced them to abandon their homes .
Nyaope is heroin sprinkled over marijuana, rolled
into a cigarette . In most instances , the heroin is
cut with an anti- retroviral medication used to
treat HIV .
"That thing brings us here. In Soweto you can' t
hustle. It 's too expensive . You can' t hustle it like
here. Here we get money quickly to buy , " says
Lucky Tsobane, 22.
Toll on addicts
In South Africa 's underdeveloped urban areas,
known as townships, the drug retails for R 30
($ 30) . In the city centre , where Nigerians
dominate the drug trade and distribute the toxic
concoction , it is only R 20 ( $ 2 ).
Although Tsobane naturally has a dark
complexion, the skin on his arms and legs has
turned unnaturally black and is nearly
crocodile - textured from a combination of
smoking nyaope and not bathing regularly.
The drug cocktail , Tsobane explains , helps him
relax. If he has not smoked , he is anxious and
restless.
When he wakes up in the morning, the craving
for the drug leaves him with unbearable stomach
cramps. He has no appetite until after he has
had a hit . And should he drink water or smoke
cigarettes before the hit, he will get sick .
"Other people vomit. Or their stomachs run. You
have to smoke it to function normally , " Tsobane
says.
His two friends - Moeketsi Shiba, 23, and
Matsepo Ndliso , 22 - admit that they have had
three hits already that day. Their high will last
for about an hour . Or two .
Now that their craving is satisfied, their next
mission is to head to the closest traffic
intersection where they will beg for money -
something that has become a day job for them .
They could stand there until 10 pm, depending on
how generous motorists are .
In their early 20 s, their addiction has only
brought them a tough life. Their hands tell a
story : hardened , wrinkled , dry, ashy, darkened
with dirty fingernails , and burnt fingertips from
smoking the rolled cigarette to its bitter end.
"We steal . We are doing crazy things . Everything
we steal is because we want to smoke , " says
Shiba, 23 .
They have endless tales - sleeping in an alley
between two buildings sardined with other street
dwellers ; hiding their stash of drugs in their
anuses to prevent police and criminals from
finding it .
No way out
Tsobane - like Shiba and Ndliso - started off
smoking marijuana. One day he saw his friend
smoking the drug cocktail and joined in . That
was four years ago. It has since become a
downhill journey .
"If you were to see where I ’m from and you look
at the way I look now , it 's a different picture, "
Tsobane says.
His mother, who has just expanded their house in
the township , where she lives with his stepfather
and sister , has nearly given up trying to get him
to come home . Instead , she visits him on the
street and occasionally brings him food and
clothing.
Shiba has two siblings - an older sister and a
younger brother - and two children . "My father
is dead but my mother is alive , " says Shiba, who
left school just two years short of completion . "I
smoked it for maybe eight months and then I
started to get arrested . That 's why I left school.
"I want to stop smoking and I want to start
working for my kids. I used to wash cars in the
[neighbour ]hood . I ' m prepared to do anything
for work ."
Although he has not stolen from his family,
Ndliso admits that she has . Tears well up in her
eyes as she explains how she stole her mother’ s
money and mobile phone to feed her habit . "I 'm
too scared to go home , " she says.
After four years on the street , Ndliso has
contracted HIV , prostituting herself for just R 15
($ 1 .40 ) - not even enough to feel the full effect
of the drug. She discovered this after seeking
treatment for tuberculosis , which she also
contracted on the streets . She now has the added
burden of having to hide her medication, which
often gets stolen .
Her poor health however , does not prevent her
from smoking . "This thing we are tired of
smoking; it's just that we don' t get help . I want
to go school but I can' t. I smoke nyaope
everyday, " says Shiba.
Sandra Pretorius , a director at the South African
National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence
(SANCA) , explains that Tsobane, Shiba, and
Ndliso are suffering from the highly addictive
heroin in the nyaope mix . All it takes is smoking
it two or three times to become an addict .
"This makes it very difficult to treat . The
physical withdrawals include severe intestinal
spasms , shakes , sweats , headaches, vomiting ,
and diarrhoea . This needs withdrawal
medication, not just group rehab , " says
Pretorius .
The drug of choice
Use of nyaope has increased dramatically since
2007, says Pretorius . Ten years ago, a traditional
heroin user in South Africa was white , between
the ages of 19 and 24 , and unemployed or
studying.
But Nyaope has changed the status quo .
"There has been a big [ uptick in users] among
black youngsters, " says Pretorius . This could be
attributed to the fact that the drug is very cheap
and therefore attainable for disadvantaged
youth caught in socio- economic circumstances
that push them to drugs .
In its most recent profile of clients in treatment ,
a SANCA report reveals that while the use of most
substances of abuse has remained largely
unchanged, "the mixed combination of
marijuana with heroin is escalating ".
According to the SANCA report , there is an
emerging trend of clients using more than one
substance. Heroin and opiates are listed as the
third most frequently abused substance among its
clients. And with 40 percent of their clients,
marijuana was their primary substances of abuse ,
which the report describes as a " drastic increase
of nine percent from last year ".
Andrew Stoller , from the South African advocacy
group Anti - Drug Alliance , says he has seen
firsthand that clinics, especially in South Africa 's
disadvantaged communities, are ill - equipped to
deal with heroin addiction , particularly because
heroin was not previously a drug of choice in
those areas.
Outdated policies aside , there are the problems
of inadequate funding and government
facilities.
Having previously worked in the rehabilitation
industry , Stoller has changed direction and now
focuses on awareness campaigns. Ultimately, his
aim is to stop the likes of Shiba, Tsobane, and
Ndliso before they even take their first hit.
