Nyaope addicts flee crowded rehab a day after checking in

About 250 nyaope addicts heeded a call by the Gauteng Department of Social Development to attend a rehabilitation facility in Pretoria‚ but many say they arrived there to find a lack of beds‚ doctors‚ food and medication.

A day later‚ scores of them were back on the streets of Soshanguve and Mabopane.

“When we got to the Dr Fabian and Florence Ribeiro (Treatment Centre)‚ we found that they were not prepared to take us in‚” one of the nyaope users told TimesLIVE.

He was back at the Mabopane Plaza‚ pushing people’s trolleys in exchange for R2 tips to feed his drug addiction.

“It was so packed that they ended up putting some of us in the female section‚ and in that section the lights were not even operating properly. There was not even any water there for us to use‚” the 27-year-old man said‚ licking his cracked‚ dry lips.

The addicts checked into the centre last week.

• 'Bluetooth' nyoape addicts ask for help to get off the drugAlmost 250 substance abusing youth in Mabopane and Soshanguve have volunteered to be rehabilitated‚ with the help of state facilities. 

“When one goes to the toilet‚ the person needs to take a bucket and walk to the other side of the facility in order to get water to come back and flush the toilet and in the meantime‚ we had to bear the smell‚” he said.

The first night was tough. Addicts claimed they did not get a decent meal.

“We cannot be given three slices of bread for dinner at 3.30pm‚ whereas I am going to get a spoonful of porridge the next day for breakfast. We just need food when we are detoxing‚” he said.

His friend‚ also a drug addict‚ said there were not enough staff to treat them all.

“There were about six doctors attending to over 200 patients. Also‚ the place didn’t have enough social workers. If you are at the back of the queue‚ you could forget about seeing a social worker… There wasn’t even water to bath. It was a mess‚” the young man said.

On Thursday afternoon last week‚ after less than 24 hours at the facility‚ some of the drug addicts were reportedly placed on buses and sent home. Others chose to hike home‚ TimesLIVE was told.

• Soshanguve addicts get surprise visit from President ZumaPresident Jacob Zuma visited nyaope addicts at a church in Soshanguve near Pretoria on Tuesday to listen to their stories about how they got hooked on drugs and why they couldn’t stop. 

A street vendor‚ known as Cry‚ said he was disappointed to see the young men back so soon.

“When they left‚ we all thought that at least they will be able to make something of their lives once they get clean but it is not like that‚” he said.

TimesLIVE tried to get in touch with the rehabilitation centre to establish the true extent of the situation. The centre’s phone rang unanswered.

Meanwhile‚ a mother of one of the boys said she was shocked to see her son back home on Friday.

“I don’t know what happened. I was surprised to see him back here again‚ especially because he told me he was going there to go and change his life. He had boarded the transport to the rehab from the library. I was there when he left‚” said the mother of the 27-year-old addict.

“I don’t even believe that he and his friends made it there. It doesn’t make sense that they would be allowed to simply return‚ just like that. I just don’t trust them anymore‚” she added. Her son has been on drugs since 2009 and she desperately wanted him to get help.

• Andile KaMajola speaks out on 'Bluetooth' drug scourgeGospel star Andile KaMajola has appealed for an intervention after hearing about a new drug craze where addicts exchange blood through a syringe to share a high. 

A concerned resident took to Facebook to vent his frustration.

“Nobody cares man!!!” one man wrote. “They were shipped to a rehab center where all of them were forced to sleep on the floor in one hall. One meal a day‚ addicts were given unprescribed pills and some were encouraged to go home‚” he wrote.

“A deliberate publicity stunt by our government‚ pure lies man. Sadly all addicts who are screaming for help are back home‚ smoking the drug again.” The provincial Department of Social Development‚ however‚ said the facility was stretched beyond its limits by the huge intake of patients.

“Such comments are extremely reckless and unfortunate. They undermine strides dissuading young people from exposing themselves to substance abuse‚ especially the deadly Bluetooth trend‚” said Mbangwa Xaba‚ a spokesperson for the Gauteng Department of Social Development.

The new and deadly “Bluetooth” trend involves nyaope users injecting themselves with the intoxicated blood of fellow drug users.

Xaba said after they took the 250 addicts from Soshanguve and Pretoria‚ a further 131 came to the centre for admission‚ bringing the total admission on that day to 381.

The facility‚ however‚ already had 200 patients. It could take a maximum of 300.

“Its capacity was stretched beyond the limit as 581 patients were admitted on that day‚” Xaba said.

“The department did all it could to reduce the number to acceptable levels.”