Everson Luhanga
It has always been a part of the South African landscape, but idleness, boredom, and the uncertainty of the future during lockdown has resulted in the skyrocketing of domestic violence and crime.
Drug and substance abuse, too, has escalated dramatically as young people have resorted to using drugs.
Officials at the South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (Sanca) centre in Alexandra said they struggle with a huge backlog of drug users and refer them for placement in other rehabilitation centres.
Social workers Ziyanda Fambaza and Lizzy Dikgale spoke exclusively to Scrolla.Africa at their office.
Ziyanda said soon after the country eased to lockdown level three after the tough level five, they experienced an influx of new drug users especially teenagers and young men.
“People were depressed. They had nothing to do and they were bored. They connected with people they were communicating with before lockdown. This resulted in many people using drugs,” she said.
Lizzy said officials were afraid to work with people they don’t know because of Covid-19.
“Rehab centres were not taking the addicts as it did before lockdown,” she said.
“This created a huge backlog that we don’t know how to deal with.”
Spokeswoman for the Gauteng Department of Social Development, Feziwe Ndwayana said the department is aware that the scourge of drug and substance abuse is escalating. She said they fight this through drug and substance abuse prevention programmes.
“Drug and substance abuse can disrupt the brain function in critical areas that affect motivation, memory, learning, judgement, and behaviour,” said Feziwe.
“Teenagers who abuse alcohol and other drugs often have family and school problems that result in poor academic performance and health-related problems. They may often be involved in criminal activities to finance their habit.”
Out on the streets of Alex, a man selling drugs, (see video) said he has been under pressure since the middle of last year to supply many new customers with drugs.
“At first, I used to go home with R2,000. But since last winter I have been going home with anything from R2,500 to R3,500,” he told Scrolla.Africa, speaking under conditions of anonymity.
He said he has also opened other outlets in different townships and they share merchandise.
“We get our stock in the Johannesburg and Pretoria inner cities,” he said.
The 36-year-old man, who doesn’t smoke, said he knows that drugs are dangerous and are destroying people’s lives.
“But as for me, I’m just happy that I was lucky enough to get a job,” he said.
I wasn’t working so when someone offered me the work of selling drugs for him, I took the opportunity.”
Nyaope is a highly addictive drug that is a mixture of heroin and dagga and a mixture of other ingredients. It is usually sold in tiny brown or black packets from R25 a packet. It is also mixed with water and injected into the bloodstream.
The drug has many different names depending on the area where it is found. In Durban, KZN it is commonly referred to as ‘sugars’. It is called ‘whoonga’ in the Western Cape, ‘pinch’ in Mpumalanga and ‘nyaope’ in Gauteng.
