There is life after Sivewright

“Been there, done that and got the experience,” said a former hardcore drug addict who lived her life on the edge as she rubbed shoulders with Sivewright Street’s pimps and prostitutes.

Bianca le Roux recently celebrated her two year anniversary of being drug free with her beautiful baby girl and her fiancée whom she is to marry later this year.

For six years Bianca was a submissive prisoner to heroin, which determined every (criminal) move she made to support her dangerous habit.

“Every time I injected heroin into my veins, my skin immediately turned blue, followed by a bump which later caved in, leaving an ugly trail of evidence on my skin.”

A total of four rehabilitation centre visits did not help her as she relapsed every time, until the day she realised she had to stop using drugs immediately.

As she could not support her drug habit without an income, Bianca turned to stealing. She targeted liquor stores and large franchises where she shoplifted frequently.

“The foreigners would approach us and place orders for brand-name clothing and perfumes, and we made it happen.”

She described how she often was behind bars when she was between 20 and 22 years old.

“Yes the Nigerians did bail me out, they were always there for me.”

Bianca also lived with Tiffany for a few weeks. The latter is another Sivewright Street sex worker whom the News interviewed earlier this year when she was recovering at The Cradle of Hope, but then relapsed.

“I remember Tiffany waking me up one night to help her steal a ‘full moon’ rock from her pimp who was asleep on the couch. Never in my life have I been that high.”

Thinking back, Bianca laughed about the time Tiffany actually sold her to another Nigerian for rocks (crack-cocaine), which was very traumatic. Her ‘new’ owner locked her inside a house in Sivewright Street.

Luckily she managed to escape and Tiffany’s pimp bought her back from the other Nigerian, freeing her from the slums.

She went back and forth with drugs but the last straw was the day a Nigerian offered her R5 000 for her car without papers.

At this point she realised she could not do this anymore, and went back home. Her mother sent her to rehab where she went cold turkey.

“It felt like red ants crawling under my skin and inside my joints. I could not sleep.”

After being clean for almost three months, Bianca discovered she was pregnant, which was a miracle considering her past.

“We started our lives with a double mattress and a TV in a rented room.”

Giving birth was hard for Bianca who could not even get morphine because it is a trigger for her. She told the News she now avoids alcohol and medicine that contains mood-altering substances.

Since then Bianca has moved into a townhouse in Kenmare and is living the happily-every-after-life she always wanted. She is looking forward to whatever life may bring.

Related articles:

• Robbed by alleged prostitute and her pimps

• Final chapter for sex worker: Tiffany’s road to recovery