editorial comment
They said it does not matter how clean they become, and for how long they stop smoking the drug, society always regards them as drug addicts.
Last Thursday morning, several hours before President Ramaphosa was due to deliver his State of the Nation Address (Sona), I attended an invitation as a guest of the Sanca Drug Rehabilitation Centre in Palm Ridge, two blocks away from the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court, south of Kathorus.
My hosts, senior social worker Zandile Mathebula and the centre’s information officer and public relations officer Ntombi Nkosi, had invited me over to their offices because they wanted to chat to their favourite ‘lokshin’ (township) newspaper, Kathorus MAIL, about the valuable and tireless work the centre is providing to young drug addicts.
As we chatted, I got to learn more about how the centre deals with the daily influx of young drug addicts who voluntarily come to seek help about their nyaope addiction. I was also given the opportunity to hear for myself from the young nyaope addicts, whose ages range between 15 and 35. They described the agony and shame of living as outcasts both within their families and in a society that has turned its back on them because of drug addiction.
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And once they are on their own on the streets, nyaope drug addicts simply become easy prey for bloodthirsty mobs who fuel the scourge of mob justice in the townships.
The addicts also complained about what they said was the wrath of some of the members of communities who regard them as social outcasts and the scum of the earth.
And later in the evening, during the Sona address by Ramaphosa, I again I listened attentively, hoping to hear the president mention something about the plight of thousands of young people who are caught in the clutches of drug addiction in our townships.
A lot more was said about getting the country out of the mess it finds itself in. Disappointingly, nothing was mentioned about rehabilitating young people out of the scourge of drug addiction and keeping them sober and clean via vocational training, even sending them back to school.
What I heard from the group of young drug addicts at the centre last Thursday morning, in my mind, warranted a mention in the presidents’ state of the address. How else can one describe the drug addiction epidemic that has afflicted just about every household in our townships and villages around the country – if it is not a pandemic?
They all spoke about how proud they were to come to the rehab centre out of their own desire in an effort to quit drugs.
Some also described how they had been led to the centre by word of mouth, while others confessed to having been “coaxed” or “encouraged” by friends who were drug addicts and wanted to quit. Each spoke of their own experience of humiliation they’ve had to endure living with the stigma of being nyaope addicts and a life where nobody trusted or wanted to be around them because of their addiction.
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Most of them described getting addicted to nyaope as the easiest thing they have ever had to do after just one or two “puffs” of the drug. Asked for their advice to their peers and other young people who may wish to experiment with the drug, their warning was unanimous: “Tell them not even dare, try.” In unison, they described nyaope as “extremely dangerous” and “highly addictive”.
The young addicts who are still in the various early stages of the eight-week “cleansing” programme, said their main aim was to be “cleansed” of the drug, and pray they never get addicted again. Many spoke of their unquenchable desire to go back to school and to complete whatever career or studies they pursued prior to their disastrous experiment with one of the most dangerous South Africa’s drug.
A few of them described how the mere fact of being outcasts in their own homes and from their families and friends has become the worst form of isolation and rejection any young person can endure.
One such tear-jerking story came from a barely 18-year-old youth who said he had everything going well for him. He said he had a good upbringing in a happily married and successful, middle-class family, and was a high achieving learner at a private school. Later he said he managed to turn his whole young life upside down after just “two puffs” of nyaope during what he described as a “naughty prank” during a sporting event.
A tall, slender, young girl, barely out of her teens, said she was there to join her peers in seeking redemption from the highly addictive “demon” drug, nyaope. She described her visit to the centre as an attempt to rid herself of the addiction and to change her life so that she could pursue her studies.
Like most of those who seek help at the centre, she described her easy addiction to nyaope as “like a walk in the park”.
Many of the young people battling the nyaope addiction openly admitted the centre was their first refuge towards making an attempt to cleanse themselves of the drug. As part of the cleansing therapy, new attendees to the centre, mix freely so they can encourage and motivate one another as they undergo the initial stages of the “cleansing” programme.
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They say returning to their families after rehabilitation hurts and humiliates them more than living dangerously on the streets. While on the streets they lived on their wits defending themselves from the elements. However, once back at home, they claim their families make life unbearable and worse than living on the street.
They say they are often treated like outcasts by their own families. They complain that their families often instruct young children to keep them under constant surveillance for fear they might steal something of value in the house.
And as I listened to the president’s Sona’s address, I was disappointed that nothing was said about the plight of this growing nation of wasted young drug addicts in our families.
See story and pics on Page 3
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