Johannesburg - Like most black townships in the country, Eersterust, east of the Pretoria CBD, has a huge drug problem. The newest scourge – nyaope – has the local addicts firmly in its grip.
Everything they can steal to fund their next fix goes – even the copper in the taps outside.
The water meters have to be made out of plastic, which is of no use to the druggies.
A youngster – young enough to be head prefect somewhere – aimlessly trudges the streets with a faraway look in his eyes. His movement is that of an old man, a man of an age he’s unlikely to reach.
The temperature is scorching but he is cold. His cure is only a puff away – if it comes.
Such is the extent of the problem that the community appealed to President Jacob Zuma for help and, on Friday, Number 1 pulled out all the stops in hosting a presidential imbizo at the Eersterust sports ground.
In tow were Tshwane mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa, Gauteng Premier David Makhura and Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini.
Not a single bullet was fired to have an audience with the powers that be. Neither were there screaming matches.
Kevin du Plooy chairs the welfare programme of the AFM Church in the township.
“We run a fostercare house for mentally-challenged children and a daycare centre.
“We’re planning to get a home for abused women, hopefully by the end of the year.”
The biggest problem facing them is rampant drug use, he says.
He talks about Teen Challenge, another of their efforts.
“We cater for 57 patients in drug rehabilitation. We take them through spiritual rehabilitation as well,” Du Plooy says.
He wishes they could accommodate more.
The area is teeming with drug lords: “We have 78 listed in Eersterust alone.”
They have gone as high up as the president in the hope he will help rope in law enforcement, who are often seen to be in the pockets of the drug cartels, Du Plooy says.
“The government can help by bringing in projects to up-skill our youth, who are most susceptible to the lure of drugs. The National Youth Development Agency, for example, can do projects here to keep them busy.
“Social Development also has a role to play, given the needs in our township,” he adds.
It seems the community has its ducks in a row and a clear idea of what needs to be done “to defeat drug abuse and unemployment”.
The unemployment situation here does not need a scientific study. There are people everywhere.
Leon Stewards, who has a matric, says being coloured has meant he has been overlooked for jobs.
He recently applied for a post at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital, where he suspects his CV was fed into the shredder.
“It is pointless for the president to come here with long speeches if that won’t translate into jobs,” Stewards says.
Johnny Carolisen and his buddies are not looking for jobs. “I am in buying and selling,” he says.
It is a euphemism for theft.
Carolisen says nyaope is the biggest blight on the township, which has just shed its image as a gangsters’ paradise.
“We gave our guns in during the amnesty,” says his friend, who is in the same business as Carolisen.
“There are better things to do in life,” he says.
Much to the delight of his friends, Carolisen makes an attempt at comedy: “We live in peace here. Our women are very productive; they give us lots of children.”
Teen pregnancy is another problem, also according to the unscientific survey called observation.
Leading up to the visit, Zuma said: “In receipt of the petition by the Eersterust community, which listed a number of challenges that confront the community, including drug and substance abuse, drug syndicates, high levels of crime and other social ills, I have decided to visit this community to personally hear their plight so I can have first-hand experience of the situation.”
The Presidency said this followed “an appeal by the community of Eersterust to the president to intervene in addressing challenges facing the community, in particular drug addiction and drug syndicates who operate in the community and cause a number of social ills to the detriment of young people and children”.
Measured against the general state of townships, Eersterust is neat and tidy.
One counted PS Fourie Primary, Nantes Primary and the Eersterust Secondary School.
Those who come through the system would have started at places such as Little Butterfly Daycare and Sunbeam Nursery School.
There’s even the Eersterust Swimming Pool.
The streets are named after people – local heroes perchance?
There’s Andrew Gordon, Michael Roper, Hans Coverdale, Charles Leyds, David Diedricks, Pieter Fontuin, Johnny Jydney, Sam Japhta, John Paulsen…
Surgeries, like the one run by Dr S Khamissa, line one of the main arterial roads.
Curiously, so do funeral parlours! Matjokane, City Angels and others promise all sorts of decent send-offs for loved ones.
For Tammy Cedras, 17, and her 16-year-old friend Adrichan Engelbrecht, who go to Prosperitus High School, the constant threat of rape makes life in the township a shade more miserable.
“Those who do this must be locked up for good,” they chorus.
Community-based organisations, such as People Against Abuse, whose slogan is “no excuse for abuse”, operate in the area.
Their vision – to contribute to a peaceful society where no form of gender violence will be tolerated – seems to suggest that talk is mightier than the sword.
Sunday Independent