AS drugs continue to tighten the grip on more and more young lives, non-profit organisations are raising their voices to fight addiction.
One such group is Souls 4 Life, which on Saturday marched from the uThungulu District Municipality to the City of uMhlathuze Municipality in the hopes of promoting awareness of the issue.
Waving placards with messages reading ‘Stop Crime, Stop Drugs and Save our Youth’ and ‘Drug Dealers Must Fall’, the Ngwelezane-based organisation said substance abuse has already lobotomized too many bright minds.
‘Addiction has spiked, especially in townships such Ngwelezane,’ said Souls 4 Life representative Mpume Khoza.
‘Whoonga is particularly rife and ruining futures. It has significantly bumped up crime and school drop-outs in this region.
‘What we do, together with the Rehoboth Church, is offer victims of addiction spiritual support and refer them to SANCA (the SA National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence).’
Whoonga, which is a small straw containing a small amount of heroin, bulked up with dagga, rat poison and cleaning detergents, has widely been reported as Zululand’s biggest troublemaker.
At only R20 ‘a pop’, it causes devastation in areas already inflicted with crime.
‘It is so cheap, that it is used by dealers to lure youngsters who quickly get addicted and have little option other than becoming ‘runners’ for the dealers at schools and in their neighbourhoods to feed their addiction,’ said SANCA Zululand Director Shireen Sahabev.
‘Many girls become prostitutes and some get trafficked to foreign countries where they are held hostage and kept as sex slaves.
‘Whoonga is rabid here and it is scary.’
For more information, contact Souls 4 Life’s Mpume Khoza on 083 2291830 or SANCA Zululand on 035 7723290.
