Drug addiction in the City Of Tshwane is rapidly growing and the communities of the city are concerned about the safety of their families.
TUT’s community radio DJ, Khutsi Malala’s Long Walk from Johannesburg to Soshanguve in partnership with the Department of Community Safety and TUT FM has come to the aid of struggling Nyaope addicts around Soshanguve and Mabopane.
The initiative was started by the TUT FM Breakfast Show crew and aims to raise awareness and fight against the addiction of drugs, particularly the new drug trend called Bluetooth Nyaope.
Bluetooth Nyaope is the transfer of a high-on-drugs individual’s blood to another by a syringe, to share the ‘high’. The ‘Clean-Up Squad’ decided to act after it observed the damage Nyaope is doing to the youth of Tshwane.
“We are the young, helping the young. We believe that one hand can help another. We were hoping to raise over R1-million to take Nyaope addicts to the rehabilitation centre and we also hope to open a Skills Development centre for when they come back which will help them not to relapse,” Baphelile Sambo, TUT FM’s AM Rush Breakfast Show producer and one of the organisers of the walk said.
The big walk kicked off on the 11th of August to the 12th of August 2017 in between the two cities. Celebrations on the success of the #DeactivatingBluetoothNyaope walk were held at the Mini Stadium in Block F, Soshanguve. Participants were also treated to Aerobics and a 5km fun walk.
Initially, the goal was to send 200 drug addicts to a rehabilitation centre but only 35 addicts signed up to go, which was still a victory for the ‘Clean-Up Squad’ and the participating organisations.
“I want to change the situation I’m in. It was fun when I started the drugs, I liked the feeling it gave me and back then, I had no idea where it would lead me but now I want to quit because they do not help me but instead, they are destroying my life,” said 32-year-old Gordon Ncane, a drug addict from Soshanguve said.
Ncane started drugs when he was a 14-year-old, deep into peer pressure, which led him into taking the drugs for over 15 years and living on the streets. He said he wants to become a better person and be part of the community instead of being labelled as a drug user.
Among the speakers was a recovered drug addict, Nickodemus from Klipgat, Mabopane, who now serves as an inspiration for hopeful Nyaope quitters.
“I’ve smoked Nyaope for six years. During those years, I started selling my clothes for a fix and at home they were not happy about my lifestyle which led me into living in Marabastad, Pretoria and turning card boxes into my bed. I would spend the whole day not eating, just to take my last money to buy Nyaope. People I smoked with are now dead due to a number of horrible circumstances we faced at Marabastad,” Nickodemus said.
Nickodemus has changed his life for the better and is three years drug free. He’s now a student at the Skills College. He has pled with the South African government to take charge by sending drug addicts to rehab. He has advised the future recovers to try their best to resist the temptations, as a recovered addict, he has firsthand experience that it is not easy to be completely clean.
“We’ve learnt a lot from the walk and this time next year, it’s going to be bigger and better. The initiative has a lot of significance especially on the media and social media. It is going to be magnificent as we go on. We are hoping to open a Skills Development centre for drug addicts and that’s the conversation we want to have with the Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa when we meet him on the 17th of August,” Khutsi Malala, the Long Walk organiser and TUT FM DJ said.
According to Malala, it costs an estimated R27 000 for each person to be booked into a rehabilitation centre, which is more reason for big organisations to get involved, especially the SA government.
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa was supposed to be one of the attendees of the event but could not make it. Mr Ramaphosa promised to assist by funding the programme for the Nyaope addicts and build a Skills Development Centre in Block H, Soshanguve.
The fight against drug use walk is going to be an annual event in hope to be the start for bigger change. The Waterkloof Rotary Club has committed to take the 35 addicts to a Skills Development program and Ditsala Children’s Shield has donated money into the program.
Amongst the organisations involved with the Long Walk is local Supermarket Big Save, who is the biggest sponsor, Bid Vest Toyota McCarthy who provided transportation for the addicts and participants and SA National Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Pretoria.
