BOPHELONG – Every day, youngsters on the outskirts of Joko Tea – a small squatter camp – smoke their lives away as they chase a hopeless high.
Despite the bustling passersby crossing the old dilapidated building lining the last row of shacks winding up the settlement, nothing seems to disturb them as they reel in their chain smoking.
Ster visited the crumbling building following an invitation to an awareness walk and a community dialogue hosted by Indibano.
The building’s once proud structure is now replaced by gaping voids.
Indibano campaign manager Lawrence Sibanda said it is important to raise awareness in the area.
The heartwrenching sight of the teens “skeifing” their way into numbness made the mission feel painfully urgent.
A sextet demonstrated how a R50 skeif quickly perished in seconds, leaving them zombied out.
Speaking to the paper before their conversation trailed off, heads drooping, and their bodies slumping as the high took hold, some explained why they found themselves trapped in this street drug.
“I’ve been smoking different drugs since 2007, but nyaope takes the cup. When I started getting into drugs, the thought of finding a stronger fix led me to this ‘monster’,” explained the youngster while some of his acquaintances held a needle to his neck.
Locking in the air to bring out the jugular vein for a proper injection during the interview, the young man continued to explain: “It’s been too many years, even when one wants to stop, it just gets harder by the day.”
While some of the youngsters talked about quitting while they still can, others told the paper that they are afraid of the withdrawals also known as ‘Didown’.
“More than law enforcement, or our parents, the biggest fear we have when we contemplate to stop using these drugs ‘ke di down’. The pain is so unbearable that it sends you back to the drug as soon as you get the chance. There is no way out unless you are dead,” said another.
