Plan needed to manage drug addicts
Experts say scourge will not disappear, but issue of whoonga users must be dealt with holistically
DURBAN’S battered beachfront is being invaded by whoonga addicts who sleep under the piers and leave their bloodied syringes on the sand.
This comes amid concerns that the city is also battling to counter the steady erosion of the promenade infrastructure.
The whoonga addict phenomenon could pose a threat to the health and safety of surfers and beach-goers.
One official is on antiretroviral treatment after being pricked by a syringe during a recent clean-up operation.
And with the Easter holiday only a few days away, Durban’s deputy mayor Fawzia Peer has acknowledged that the city has a problem on its hands that warrants urgent attention.
Whoonga is a cocktail of various ingredients, which may vary, but the principal active ingredient is heroin. It is usually smoked but addicts have recently taken to injecting it. Residents have been aware of the drug’s presence for a few years, since a tract of land near the train tracks in the Albert Park area became notorious for the number of addicts who lived there.
This week, the Sunday Tribune spoke to a beachfront addict and car guard who said they would “bluetooth”, a craze where users inject themselves with blood drawn from an already high user. They believe this will also get them high, therefore saving them money.
The latest syringe scare was last weekend when hundreds of the needles supplied to the drug addicts, allegedly by the NGO TB-HIV Care Association, washed onto the shore.
Raz Ali of Boss urban improvement precinct (UIP), mandated to carry out specialised security duties in the area, said drug users posed a threat to the public and municipal workers who clean up the beach.
“We are trying to control the situation. We have established a relationship with relevant stakeholders and are applying a zero-tolerance approach.
The South Beach UIP called on the mayor, deputy mayor and city manager to act swiftly as the issue affects Durban’s biggest tourist hub.
Chairperson Ebrahim Vadachia alleged a lack of support from police contributed to the growth of the problem. He said the UIP worked closely with metro police, who always lent their support. However, the SAPS had not played its part.
“The influx of whoonga addicts also means crime is more rampant. The addicts are sleeping on the beach, using the showers the next morning and then they loiter around for the rest of the day, feeding their habits.”
He said having no long-term solution meant the problem would become uncontrollable. “Before we have a situation that spirals out of control, we need a solution. The second problem is the syringes. Imagine what we would have to deal with if our children picked them up?”
Peer said she would call on Police Minister Bheki Cele to THE short-term issue of dealing with whoonga addicts on the beachfront is not to try to get rid of them, but to find ways to deal with them, said Professor Monique Marks of the Urban Futures Centre at the Durban University of Technology.
“They are people, not objects. We cannot just remove them from society. We cannot just make something that is habitual, go away. When they are displaced from one place, they end up in another. A short-term solution should be to provide proper syringe disposal. Users are scared of harassment by police if caught with the needles, so many dispose of it as soon as they can. If we provide them with a proper disposal method, the issue can be controlled.”
Marks said an increase in heroin use is coming into the country. “We should look at how to deal with it because it’s not going to disappear.” get involved. “It is of great concern to us. We are looking to develop a long-term solution.”
City official Afika Ndima, who is charged with overseeing the management of the beachfront precinct, said there would be intensified police visibility. “We believe the distribution of the needles is being done in a reckless manner and are engaging with relevant stakeholders,” he said.
Rajen Naidoo, head of occupational and environmental health at the University of Kwazulu-natal, said the disposal of used needles on the beachfront was worrying. As much as he supported the initiative, he said there needed to be control measures in place.
“Those needles could cause infections to spread, especially if there is fresh blood on them. It’s more concerning that this is happening at the beach, a place where you have people around all the time.”
TB-HIV Care Association
THE issue of needles and syringes being inappropriately disposed of pre-dates the existence of our project.
There are multiple sources of needles and syringes in Durban and recorded instances of medical waste unrelated to our project being washed ashore in the city.
However, the Step Up Project works hard to minimise the risk of inappropriately disposed of needles, no matter their origin. Our team performs bi-weekly clean-ups in areas where people are known to inject drugs and has been visiting North Beach three times a week since January to search for and remove needles and syringes.
We believe our project contributes to making Durban’s beaches safer. – Alison Best, communications manager