The Democratic Alliance (DA) wants the drug Nyaope to be classified as an illegal substance. The party’s Shadow Police Minister, Diane Kohler Barnard visited a rehab centre in Ivory Park on the Gauteng East Rand.

Nyaope, made from a volatile cocktail of rat poison, heroin and ARVs is a drug that has torn communities apart. In Ivory park, an estimated 7 in 10 youth are addicted to it, some as young as 9.

Operation Thiba Nyaope started in 2009, but citizens have forked out for a rehabilitation facility.

A journalism graduate, Vernon Kale, who is recovering here also succumbed to the false charm of the drug. “I was working for the National Intelligence when I was then introduced to Nyaope. I lost everything including my job, my girlfriend and valuables that I had started selling to support my habit,” says Kale.

At the centre, Nyaope-users are offered accommodation and counselling. They are also taught life skills. “The pressure that we have now is that the number is increasing everyday because everyone has hope that we can deliver better but we struggle with funds to cater for the addicts,” says President of Operation Thiba Nyaope, Terrence Dzeli.

But the biggest worry though for this operation is that Nyaope is still not listed as a drug. “The non-classification of something that has three different names in the country is absolute nonsense. It includes drugs that are already classified. The police have no excuse whatsoever not to arrest the people who are spreading this,” says Kohler Barnard.

The Justice Department is in the process of amending the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act.
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