Temic linked to suicide

The illegal substance Temic, also known as Two-step or Aldicarb, is becoming a common substance for committing suicide.

Johanna Sepako of Sol Plaatjies recently buried her 19-year-old daughter, Tsegophatso Supa after she had taken Temic.

Sepako said it was not the first time her daughter tried to end her life. “My daughter was still breastfeeding her baby of six months. She told me she was going to Dobsonville and when she came back, I saw her mixing something in a cup. I knew something was wrong, but she didn’t tell me what it was. When she was lying on her bed with the baby, she told me she took Temic. She started shaking and gasping for air. After we had called for an ambulance, we gave her milk to make her vomit,” a heartbroken Sepako said. When the ambulance didn’t come, she called a local pastor who took her daughter to hospital. “Somebody later told me my daughter had died.”

Sepako said Supa also had another daughter of 18 months and when both girls become restless, she would call their mother’s name to calm them down. “Tsegophatso completed her matric in 2014 and we often went to church together. She was still so young.”

Sepako lost another daughter in 2012 when she was shot in the chest three times outside their home. “I also have a son, but he does not live with me. I receive help from the babies’ father, but they live with me now.”

Sepako feels the people selling the poison should go to jail. “Temic is sold at the market in Dobsonville, a block away from the police station. They should all be sent to jail.”

Cora Bailey from Community Led Animal Welfare, who is fairly well-know in the area said it is not the first case she is aware of where someone took Temic to commit suicide. “A 13-year-old boy also took the substance. Fortunately he survived. I also know of a woman who was sent to jail for killing her two children with Temic. Police are turning a blind eye to the illegal trade,” Bailey said.

According to a source at the Pathology Services in Roodepoort, the majority of suicides result from Temic. “It is becoming a huge problem because the substance is freely available,” the source said.

Dr Gerhard Verdoorn from the Griffon Poison Information Centre said Temic is smuggled in from Zimbabwe. “It kills about 800 dogs a months and at least 100 cases of Temic suicides are recorded per year; but because the state is incapable of patrolling the borders, it is still being smuggled in by the tons.”

Verdoorn said Temic is a neurotoxin that causes a person’s respiratory system to shut down. “Although it is said not to cause pain, it is very effective.” Verdoorn said 580mg of Temic can kill a person weighing about 80kg. “A tenth of a teaspoon can kill someone in 12 minutes. The grain is covered in a water-resistant layer to delay absorption in the body. Some of the symptoms are vomiting, cold sweat and shaking.”

He said Temic was banned in South Africa in April 2012. “Due to the lawlessness in the country indications are that the police and Metro Police officers are assisting the perpetrators in selling it.”

Click here to read his confidential report on Temic

Click here to read his report on Temic related offences in SA

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