Addicts and prostitutes: a life of desperation on the streets of KwaDukuza

Sipho* is 26 years old. He has been living on the streets of KwaDukuza for 10 years, hustling and doing whatever is needed to feed his habit.

Originally from Doringkop, a small village halfway between KwaDukuza and Greytown, Sipho fled his home where he had been living with his grandmother because he says he needed to protect her from himself.

“If I stayed at home, I was going to end up stealing from my neighbours or even at home and that was going to be an abuse to my dearest gogo. I love her so much, she is everything to me. So I came here (KwaDukuza town) so that I can hustle and get money for drugs,” said the young man.

Sipho is just one of many hundreds – nobody knows how many – young people caught up in a vicious cycle of drug addiction and prostitution, living in the iLembe region.

The cost of getting high is expensive. A small piece of rock cocaine costs R50 and a single whoonga capsule is R20.

Most combine the two drugs which means every time they need to smoke they will spend R70, and take multiple hits in a day.

Sipho survives by helping people carry their groceries to the taxi rank and charges them R20.

He said he walks away with about R700 a day and he spends it all on drugs.

“There is a group of more than 50 of us, we stay in an unused building and some of the guys there survive on crime.

“Fortunately, I have not committed any crime in order to get money for drugs.

“It is tough, my brother, and I won’t lie to you, as much as I do not rob people, but when the other guys come with money and drugs I do not ask where they got the money from, I take the drugs. So yes, I do enjoy blood money.”

While talking to me, Sipho became visibly agitated and said he needed to buy drugs urgently.

He went to buy rock cocaine and a whoonga capsule at a small shack on Balcomb Street. 

“You see this, my brother, it is not enough for a day. I take this at least 10 times a day, so that means I must have R700 otherwise I will have a serious problem unless my friends come with something later today.”

Asked about the dealers, Sipho said he and his friends only deal with the runners on the streets.

He said he was scared of them because they were very dangerous.

“Eish, when you do not have drugs or when you try to control yourself not to buy drugs regularly, they come and pretend to be your friends and offer you drugs and tell you that you can pay them later.

“When you fail to pay, they beat you up very badly. They use anything from sjambok, sticks and any weapon they find.”

He took a deep breath and his eyes were teary when he told me that he already lost 3 of his friends who were beaten to death because they could not pay for their drugs.

He said countless other addicts had disappeared after they were taken away by dealers. 

In another part of town, in Edgar Charlton Cres and Curtis Smith Street, I met young girls who work as prostitutes.

Two from Ntshawini, near KwaDukuza, admitted the only reason they were on the streets was because of drug addiction.

Thandi*, who is only 24 years old, said she had a family and a son at home in Ntshawini, but when in KwaDukuza she lived in an abandoned building. 

“It is tough being a prostitute because people do not treat us like humans.

“Many times men have slept with me and when they are done, they will pull a gun and take my money.

“Rock cocaine and whoonga are not cheap, so I need quick money. That is why I am here,” said the woman who has been selling her body since she was 16.

She charges a mere R50 for her services.

Her friend Pretty* is a year older and has been a prostitute for 10 years and still lives in Ntshawini, but works wherever she can find business.

Once, she said, she was taken by a man into a bush in Gledhow and when he was done having sex with her, he pushed her out of a moving car. 

“That is why I have these scars on my face. That was my most traumatic experience. We also get other girls who come here with their boyfriends and rob our clients and if there are no clients, they rob us.”

They all said they were willing to quit drugs should they be given help and some said police officers from KwaDukuza Saps were trying to help them get admitted to a rehab centre.

* Not their real names.