POLOKWANE – Over the past months there have been several incidents of violence against people in the city who were accused of being involved in the selling of drugs, in most cases nyaope.
Review discovered nyaope and whoonga are dependence-producing substances and a recipe for ‘destruction and early death’.
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Sold for around R20 a ‘pop’, the highly addictive drug is making its way into households throughout the city. Typically it contains a mixture of substances such as marijuana, low-grade heroin, cocaine, and other additives like rat poison and antiretroviral drugs (used for HIV treatment).
In recent months, so called vigilante groups have taken it upon themselves to eradicate the city of the drug that is often referred to as ‘the youth killer’.
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One of the residents, Daniel Ledwaba, said he was present at one of the more recent attacks by a vigilante group on a man pointed out as a drug dealer in Ladanna.
“We as the residents know these men sell drugs and we have reported it to the police, yet nothing was done. They run the streets, they run our lives and they destroy our children’s future but the police leave them be because they are not big enough threats. To us they are big enough threats and they do enough damage,” Ledwaba said.
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He said this lack of response by police is one of the reasons people have decided to take the law into their own hands and act against these drug dealers, beating them up and dragging their property into the street and destroying the places they believe are safe.
Polokwane Police Spokesperson, WO Lesiba Ramoshaba, said police are following up on information received by the public and that they again make a call on residents not to take matters into their own hands.
An undercover police officer working on drugs within Limpopo and the city is working hard to get drugs like nyaope off the streets.
“This is a drug with a rapid increase in popularity in the city and people from all walks of life fall into its clutches. It is a drug that is cheap, easy to find and which causes psychosis. It is highly addictive and has been identified as the motivation behind several violent crimes in the city,” he told Review.
