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Ashley Abrahams, a 37-year-old homeless person, is one of more than 100,000 regular heroin users in South Africa, according to a survey released in March by the European ENACT project, which is fighting against transnational organized crime.
Heroin has been wreaking havoc in South Africa's cities and rural areas since the early 2000s, with a milking market generating annual revenues of about 3.6 billion rand ($ 260 million) .
"What happens is that it comes in powder form and I then throw a liquid on it, water, then I cook it and then I inject it." . Basically, for me, it's only to relieve pain. In fact, I have no main reason to use it. But it was basically just to fit in. Peer pressure plays a bigger role in this case. And I was just stupid. As I said, I regret the day I took this medicine. I regret the day because I was not aware of withdrawals, no one told me about withdrawals, nobody told me about the effects that it will have on me. "
Ashley added that heroin is one of the many survival strategies she uses to survive on the street.
"Nobody can sleep sober in the street, you will die of cold. Why do you think most people survive on the street? Because there is something in their system, there is something toxic in their system that keeps them warm and helps them, "he said. According to Robert Michel, executive director of Outreach Foundation, a non-governmental organization that helps youth in need, "out of five people sent to rehab, one of them will stay clean for at least six months . And we usually lose them out of sight and we do not know if, a year or two years later, they are still out of drugs or have returned. That, we do not know. So at best, at best, I would say our success rate is about 20%, but it could be a lot less. "
Despite the very low success rate recorded so far, Robert says that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
"There is always hope, there must be hope. If not, what would we do here on earth? The sun is shining again tomorrow, in Africa at least where it is always sunny, and it gives us hope and pushes us. Yes, we know it's probably a lost battle, but I still think it's worth it. "
Many streets of South Africa have become drug supermarkets, a practice strongly condemned by NGOs and experts, who accuse the police and the government of pbadivity at its best and complicity at worst.
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