Nyaope 'zombies' plague small Free State town
The picturesque dorpie of Bethlehem is the latest to fall under the spell of South Africa’s cheap street drug nyaope.
Living in the Silahliwe informal settlement outside Bethlehem, Abraham Mokoena always tried to be a good big brother. When his younger brother Thabiso started losing focus at school and being disrespectful at home – he knew it was the drugs. He says he tried to help Thabiso.
“I tried helping him but (I) felt helpless because he didn’t listen to me,” Abraham remembers. “I was so sad seeing him change.”
“My brother was a good child,” he adds. “He always respected all of us and did his school work, but then nyaope got hold of him and it changed everything.”
Abraham recently found Thabiso dead in his bed from an apparent overdose of nyaope.