eMBALENHLE – Pupils from Vukuzithathe Primary School have voiced their concerns about nyaope users who do crime in the area.
They marched on the road near the school on Friday morning, 15 August to discourage young people from using nyaope or other altered drugs.
The pupils carried placards with slogans of which some that read “Phansi nge nyaope”, “Stop selling nyaope”, “Phansi nge crime” and “Stop buying stolen goods”.
They were led by their teachers and members of the School Governing Body (SGB).
Mr Abraham Kwaza, member the SGB and Sector 4 Crime Forum, said the school has apparently experienced a high number of burglaries in the last couple of months.
The local police arrested three people who were in possession of nyaope near the school before the march took place.
They also arrested seven people for being in possession of dagga in other parts of the township.
Lt Col Victor Mnguni, head of crime prevention of the police, said nyaope users are responsible for many of the crimes in the area.
Nyaope has been declared an illegal drug and people found dealing in or being in possession of it or other altered drugs can be prosecuted.
The Department of Justice and the Department of Health signed the amendment of the Drugs and Trafficking Act in March.
There were no laws in place to deal with new narcotics created by modifying a substance’s chemical structure or finding chemicals with entirely different chemical structures that produced similar effects before the Act was amended.
A person could be charged for unlawfully being in possession of antiretrovirals and heroin.
The two drugs were some of the substances that were combined to make nyaope.
The court can impose a fine or jail term not exceeding 15 years for use or possession and for dealing in it.
You can get a fine or 25 years imprisonment.
The amendments were not limited to nyaope, but were designed to include all other drug mixtures that might surface in future.
