Across South Africa, communities are being
decimated by a deadly narcotic known as nyaope. This is the story of a drug epidemic fuelled
by corruption. And one man’s fight for redemption. A drug epidemic is raging in townships across
my country. Nyaope is a highly addictive heroin based
narcotic which sometimes contains HIV medication. It’s often mixed with marijuana and smoked
or injected. This drug is slowly eating away at South Africa’s
first post-apartheid generation. And I want to find out why. My name is Golden Mtika. I’m a local crime reporter. I know the dangers of nyaope more than most. In the past six years, the drug has claimed
the lives of two of my young nephews. I’ve come to their old neighbourhood in
search of answers. In the crowd I spot one of my nephew’s old
friends. Jesus came from a good home and was always
immaculately dressed. I can’t believe how far he’s fallen. I’d like to talk to him but he’s too far
gone. Seeing Jesus has brought back painful memories. In the space of five years, I lost my twin
nephews Innocent and Enoch to nyaope. Both of them, my nephews, were nyaope addicts. We tried our best in fact to give them or
to guide them to stop smoking this nyaope. At the end of the day, they ended up losing their
lives. This is where Enoch and Innocent have been
laid to rest. Innocent was killed by nyaope addicts for
the earrings that he had. They took it to go and sell it so they can
satisfy their appetite in, of nyaope. He was stabbed to death and he died instantly. His twin brother Enoch, he was with his friend
who was also a nyaope addict. And he stole money, his friend stole money
from somebody on the street and ran away. And Enoch couldn’t run away. They grabbed him. They beat him very severly. He was in a coma for two months. That’s how we lost Enoch through
nyaope. I’m sitting here, right on top of this grave
and I’ve got my two nephews laying here who died for nothing, who died for nothing. Life is so cheap. So it’s my plea to others, that you know
what happened to them, it shouldn’t happen to other people as well. I think it’s my responsibility to go out
there and try to help those who are still in nyaope and see if they can change. I’ll come again next time,
to visit you. May your soul rest in peace. The loss of my nephews has had a devasting
effect on me and my family. But we are not alone. Most families have been affected by nyaope,
you only have to turn the radio on and tv, newspapers, you see stories of nyaope every
day. After what happened to my nephews, I’m determined
to help Jesus escape his addiction, before he suffers the same fate. I find him scavenging in an open sewer. Like thousands of other addicts, he’s desperate
to buy his first fix of the day. He agrees to talk but seems distracted. Is there anything that you wouldn’t do if
you didn’t get a, a fix? Aahh. How are you feeling? Oooh ehh. But feeding his addiction is a constant challenge. In a day, how much do you have to spend? Is it hard to get nyaope into the township? It’s hard seeing just how low Jesus has
fallen. But in the nightmare world of nyaope, you
can always sink lower. As I discovered, some of Jesus’s friends
are going to potentially deadly extremes to feed their addiction. In search of a bigger hit, they not only inject
the drug but also share the same needle. So are you not scared of HIV? These guys are already taking one hell of
a risk but what I was about to see next was truly chilling. After injecting the nyaope, the addict draws
his own blood back out into the syringe. To make the hit go further, this mixture of
blood and nyaope will then be injected by the others. What I’m witnessing is sheer madness. When I saw that, one drawing blood from himself
and injecting the other one, it scared me most. My body was like, you know, crumbling. He’s gonna inject with that syringe. It’s a suicide, that’s a complete suicide
for me. Seeing Jesus’s friends risking their lives
for nyaope has made me more determined than ever to try to save him. But Jesus has a son he hasn’t seen for a
long time. And I wonder if that could motivate him. Do you miss your son? Yeah. How old is he? So how does it make you feel? You know, for not seeing your child? What would allow you to see the child? If you can just be clean, from smoking nyaope. Yeah. So if you go to rehab, I’m very sure that
you know, your life will change, for good, yeah. And you’ll be back again with your family,
you’ll be looking after your boy. Would it be okay with you? Yeah. If we can ask the rehab to get you a place
there. A few days later, the rehab centre has agreed
to take Jesus and I go to try and find him again. I find him at one of his regular spots. But it’s not looking good. He’s already smoking. I wonder if he’ll still feel the same about
going into rehab. Do you think you’ll miss this? Jesus says his goodbyes. His resolve is strong. But I need to get him to the centre before
his cravings begin. The tenth commandment rehab centre in Tembisa claims to have a success rate of over seventy percent. It runs a strict regime. Jesus is looking tense. Joseph is a former nyaope addict who mentors
new arrivals. Joseph seats Jesus down and explains the centre’s
rules. He looks scared. But it’s too late to back out. Jesus has been addicted to nyaope for almost
a decade. He’ll be kept under lock and key until he’s
clean. This program may be his last hope for redemption. The next day I return to see how Jesus is doing. But despite the cravings, Jesus still seems determined. It’s time for me to leave Jesus. Now he must fight his demons alone. I hope he can find the strength to beat nyaope. If he can, there’s a chance he can rebuild
his life and connect with his family again. Thousands of young South Africans are in exactly
the same situation as Jesus. But who are the shadowy people responsible
for flooding our townships with the drug? Through my underworld contacts, I’ve managed
to find a nyaope trafficker, who’s willing to talk to me. But he’s suspicious. Yeah. I’ve heard he’s a key supplier to dozens
of local nyaope dealers. Okay, the stuff that we have it here, how
long would it last for you? How much can you get? Ten kilos? One township, ten kilos. I can’t imagine the misery this is causing. How does it make you feel when you look at
one of the youths, here, in the township, you know has lost hope in his life, just because
he’s smoking the stuff? Oh, so this is basically for the, for the
sake of money. Nyaope has long been illegal in South Africa. So how can dealers like these operate so openly? How do you deal with the cops? Alright you just have to bribe them. How much would you give a cop? Is it only the junior level cops or up to
the higher rank? He’s selling nyaope and he doesn’t care. What he cares about it’s money. I’ve lost my two nephews through this nyaope. I think for me the government needs to come
in very strongly and arrest each and every person who is dealing in nyaope, because they
are killing our society. I’ve managed to find a cop who is prepared
to talk about corrupt officers who are feeding off the drug trade. I’m meeting him at a secret location. Hello
Hi, hi, hi. My friend. Yeah, I’m already around this area Oh… ok He really sounds a bit nervous but he’s promised that he’s coming. We’ve disguised his identity to protect him. Do you notice that nyaope is now very common
in our streets, eh, almost like every corner of our streets. Yes yes most specially in our townships err
there’s there is a lot of Nyaopes. It’s killing our country, our community,
our childrens, our brothers. How frustrating is it to you? I’m trying to combat crime and protect members
of the community but some of our members they are taking bribes to those who supply those
nyaopes. How could the corruption be stopped? To stop corruption arrest those police officers
who’s involved in crime. This cop is taking a big risk talking to me. It’s very dangerous, to cover up that story. They can kill me and also my family. Thanks for speaking to me and be safe. Thank you, you’re welcome my brother. The most disappointing thing about it, these
police getting bribes from the dealers, is that they’re giving them the freedom to
operate in our townships freely and making drugs accessible to our children, very easily. I want to find out just how widespread the
problem of corruption within the police force has become. A nyaope street dealer has agreed to wear
a secret camera but it’s very risky. The cops usually arrive just after changing
the shift. And they will drive around the township, seeing each and every dealer to collect money from them. It doesn’t take long for a cop to take a
bribe. I have a cold drink for you, man. Over the next four days, our cameras captured
police officers repeatedly receiving bribes from a known drug dealer. We’ve obscured their faces to protect his
identity. This is pretty obvious, a
police van pulls in and a dealer of nyaope comes to the police and he tells them business
is not good but I’ll give you cold drink. And in South African terms cold drink means
I’ll give you bribery. For the love of money, they just collect money
and they leave these drug dealers to roam around in our streets, sell drugs freely. So, to me this is not good. It’s not good at all. Not only to me but to everyone else in our
society. We put these allegations to the South African
Police Service. In response, they said that “Police always
encourage members of the public to come forward and report information on crime” and highlighted
recent high profile arrests of drug dealers in the Johannesburg area. It’s been six months since I left Jesus
in rehab. We’ve been supporting his treatment and
I’ve heard he’s now clean of nyaope. Hi Jesus. Eh, hi man. You’re looking clean man. You’re looking very clean, eh, very neat,
sure. Eh, you’re looking, just look at you. I can’t believe this is you man. You’re looking great man. How has it been at the rehab? The hardest part was my first three days in
the first week. Oh, there’s pains, there is sleepless nights
you know. I’m finding it hard to put words to it,
because even the thought of it is like yo, my God. Do you think you will ever go back? No, I wouldn’t. Smoking nyaope. No, I wouldn’t go back to that ever again. I’m taking him home to meet his family for
the first time in years. I’m a bit nervous, you know. Yeah, I’m a bit nervous. But, yeah, how is she gonna react towards
me, that’s what worries me. What happens if your mum rejects you? Eh. That’s, that’s gonna be, eh, I don’t
know. That’s gonna be, that’s gonna hit me hard. Which house is it? It’s around the corner. Ah, so you can go and speak to your mum. Okay. That’s my little sister. That’s my little sister. Home sweet home. Yeah, it feels very good actually. Yeah, I’m just holding the tears to not
fall. I’m looking like I’m gonna cry for real
because eh I’ve been missing my mum. I’ve been missing my mother. I feel very proud about Jesus. I hope that you know, he will show up to them
you know that he’s really changed. Because it all has to start with him. Jesus is back on streets, this time spreading the message to nyaope addicts that the drug can be beaten. But across South Africa, dealers continue
to push the drugs on the next generation. Addicts are still hustling to get the money
to pay for their next fix. And I continue to visit my nephews’ grave,
praying that other families can be safe from the tragedy of nyaope.
this shit gives Jesus credible mind to talk like a professor
The only thing u never hide the police officers voice but nice for saving that guy good work bro
They need to look at the bigger picture….WHO BROUHT THIS SHIT IN THERE, WHO SHOWED THEM HOW TO SELL IT AND HOW MUCH TO SELL IT FOR? HOW THEY WEIGH IT OUT AND SHIT? CUZ IF THEY NEVER HAD THIS SOMEONE HAD TO HAVE BRING IT IN SO WHY NOT SEE WHAT "NEW NEIGHBOR" BROUGHT IT IN THIS SEEMS LIKE AMERICA A POPULATION CONTROL
DOES IT FUCKING MATTER WHERE THIS GUY IS FROM..fuck. AT LEAST HE IS GETTING THIS OUT TO THE WORLD SO MAYBE A CHANGE CAN HAPPEN…IF YALL DONT LIKE IT CALL YOUR LOCAL NEWS OR OTHER RADIO STATIONS AND LET THEM OR TELL THEM TO DO THE DOCUMENTARY THEN….I BELIEVE YALL JUST DONT LIKE SEEING AFRICA LIKE THIS..
ITS OK CUZ AMERICSN HAS BEEN TRASHED WITH DRUGS SINCE FOR EVER…..SO SHUT UP OR DO SOMETHING IN THE COMMUNITY ABOUT IT
Iam sorry .. what is this blood share..risk HIV adis
Big 🆙 to the Journalist, you doing a good job, it reaches our hearts & souls as intended.
If you think the documentary is FAKE! take time to reflect on your stand of independent thinking because it's clearly affecting your humanity and the true sense of the South African society😒😔🤔
wow men. thats a life changing story
Nyaope
quitting heroine is not easy, once you do get away from the addiction you still have a life long battle of not relapsing.
it still is a battle even though it has been close to four years being clean, i am very fortunate to be one of the few ex-addicts that actually managed to escape this epidemic. Seeing this documentary really reminded me of a lot, and my heart bleeds from all the pain that i see in my brothers and sisters eyes and what they are going through.
i do not wish addiction on anyone, ever!
You don’t get over an addiction by stopping using. You recover by creating a new life where it’s easier to not use. If you don’t create a new life, then all the factors that brought you to your addiction will catch up with you gain.
sharing blood???
Good job brother
I pray for my brothers here even in the suburbs we know the nyoape guys its has destroyed old friends who weren't well off to begin with nyoape made them much much worse till you see an old friend begging nyoape is a cheap and ugly drug if we want to sort it out it starts with the drug dealers who are all over the place in broad daylight only once have I seen the dealers chased from a place and they weren't even south Africans chasing them its was a malawian community what do the cops do nothing they take the bribes from the dealers then make their arrests on the users and scratch two backs at once if you want to sort this out you are going to need Linden police to raid douglasdale for instance as the local cops will just warn their contact before the raid takes place
This is fucked up!
I hope Jesus made it. I really hope he's still clean and healthy. SA may start to think about harder punishments for those who are selling this shit.
Thank you for saving Jesus and for the work you do Golden 😁👏🏾
And they called him Jesus well he needs Jesus
Why the heck is this guy's name Jesus!?!?!?!?
What a waste
I mean this Jesus guy can go far because u can tell that he's smart
Where is his son? I’m rooting for it? Remember he changed for his son , and didn’t see them together.
my problem with this guy is his reputation for stagged documentaries…most of them are probably paid actors
I can't believe that Golden still resides there… TF!!!!
One word guys “Choices”. Unless any of the addicts were forced into it, the sole blame lies on themselves
So sad
Can never believe this Golden mtika guy after My Neighbour The Rapist story fell out that he scripted all the actors.
The reporter is highly questionable—he was exposed as a lier on another video.
Apparently he paid people to lie on the other documentary abt rape. I don’t trust this guy at all.
BBC should go to Soweto or KwaMashu, people there don’t play games, BBC would be exposed.
MY son was hes protege when he was still in the rap world …..he describes it as losing more than just a friend 'hes like a big brother i never had' he was real heartbroken when CYE BESERK asked him for some money while digging in a trashcan
Big up to that rehab centre
Wow this is too upsetting
They lost me when they started swapping blood. I felt so sick. I'm done watching BBC. I grew up in the suburbs. I don't have the stomach for this.
Whats wrong with Some nigerians. Its too much now
😏😏
There is a documentary also by golden about rapists in South Africa, the people in the video later said they were paid to say everything by golden and his team!! The main guy was even saying people think he is a rapist and they chased him out if his community ,he wanted justice from the bad reputation that golden gave him
Its so silly injecting a high persons blood….its only a TINY bit of the drug, not noticable and not worth it.
Mad sick
Get these addicts some ibogaine, it is most effective treatment for opiate abuse and is grown in Africa also.
This story could benefit from some fact checking…
I am heart broken
After apartheid this is the new epidemic to wipe out blacks🤔…. God you have to intervene on behalf of our ancestors. Jesus please be our help..🙏🏾😭😭😭watching from Canada….that’s drug dealer is Nigerian wow…. they need to find him and hang him up in a public square 🤔
Mr.Golden thats for sharing with the world,i pray Jesus stay on a good path.Thanks BBC News
Ich Danke dir viel mal das du Jesus geholfen hast sein weg zu finden .. schöne Grüße aus Berlin .🤴🏿💪
We have this pandemic thats destroying our future leaders in South Africa and all i see is government and media going after churches and preachers and neglecting this emergency situation. This has spread to all townships and towns in South Africa in a veryshort sapce of time. It has become so normal taht everywhere you go you can expect to see a nyaope addict.
Hell on the ground!!😎
yep china is doing the samething in the usa with fyntanel and this drug is probel the samething they ship it over to this country in hopes of making money this is all china cares about its there god money is and you have usa christans and you have africa muslams but in china you have money this is there god and they will kill for it and the drug is so cheap and just a little will kill you but thay dont care they keep shiping it more and more
wow i cant belive jesus did it 6th months is so good damn he is very strong man lots of people couldnt do that he sould be very proud of what he has done and do not be ashame to tell his story and he knows that he will always be addic to this drug thats why everyday he is clean from this drug he has hope for one day heling another man from the deps of hell this is nyaope/herion and so crazy to me that africa is just like usa there is no def to me the drugs addics are the same steal from they own family and so on but there is hope in god cuz the people bring and selling this shit to usa and africa come from CHINA and they dont belive in a god they belive in the doller bill and do not care if what they sell kill people
Thank you for saving Jesus…..God help African youth 👏
Can we please see the follow for this guy
Naming ur self Jesus should be ban. How can you defame the name of God.
Black Genocide 😢
Bluetooth
They are injecting each other’s blood, and that raises the chance of getting HIV from one of their “shooting,” buddies with HIV to 100%
I am stunned. I need a minute. Damn, that’s hard to swallow. They’re as good as dead. And they think they did it for a good fix. Which it couldn’t possibly be. Unless it was a strong hit and the user left a bunch in the syringe, injecting a syringe full of the blood of someone who is high isn’t gonna get you high,
I KNOW FOR SURE THAT THIS JOURNALIST IS A CROOK AND A LIER……MAKES MONEY FROM STUPID STORIES THAT WE KNOW ABOUT
YOU PAID HIM TO SAY ALL OF THIS…YOU STUPID MAN A REAL ADDICT PREFERS TO HIDE THEMSELVE…YOU JUST ANGER ME HOW YOU FOOL PEOPLE AND USE PEOPLE FOR YOUR BENEFIT..ONE DAY YOU ARE GOING TO BE BEHIND BARS FOR BEING A BLOODY CROOK
Soon as I was thinking, “that man is trying to enjoy his high, he’s not trying to talk seriously!” He said I don’t even want to talk about it… I grew up around many people that used drugs, my father began using drugs in Vietnam. He said they would want them high to fight and stay awake! To this day he is still using drugs. I don’t have a relationship with him nor do I want one. I never once said let me try that… It had the opposite effect… I have never drank or used drugs… I’m thankful and joyful to the Lord and the universe that I never had a desire to use drugs to solve or forget problems, to fit in, or just to see how it would make me feel… I would always say I’m way to beautiful to use drugs! I feel empathy for those who are weak and turn to drugs for whatever reason or can’t stop… One thing for sure it you know someone is using drugs don’t treat them bad … don’t give them yet another excuse to use. If you can’t help leave them be and love them from a distance.
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕
If someone can watch this and Not shed a tear ………. they are not human 🙏🏽💕
Thanks so much for sharing this heartfelt and personal story please please do a follow up 🙏🏽
😭💔
Madness
Mad respect jesus
So for the people saying the dealer is Nigerian. I actually believe it could be, it’s very possible because he sounds like he is, I hope he gets life in prison. BUT the people talking about Nigerians are the problems, it’s just laughable. So one guy is the supplier for the whole of SA? And this guy could literally be the main connect or just an errand boy. Of course I haven’t seen anyone blaming the police that look the other way! And please are you guys going to blame Nigerians for the rape culture in SA?
I hope these young men get all the help they need and I pray God brings them peace and the strength to fight this addiction.
Good job
okay this is not funny but why do i giggle every time they say Jesus lol
lol "it is hard seeing how low Jesus has fallen" omg!
When they starting injecting each other’s blood I started to cringe 😔
and people had the nerve to say Golden and BBC were bribing people to falsify the story are fools they’re doing the shit right in front of the camera doesn’t look made up to me‼️
Wake up WORLD…its everywhere! Drugs don't choose People..
People choose drugs!!!!
I live in a small rural town in the US..we got friends and family doing the same shit. Dying daily! They are so young.The only difference is they change the names of it.
We are one! We all need to do the work of this man.Those which haven't been taken in by it need to help others!
Best of luck jesus you are blessed with a second chance at life great to see you helping others now!
Blessings!
"I'm going to beat it, this game, it's not going to beat me"…. Gracious me! Jesus is a f**king smart guy.
Trust me, the issue with Nyaope can well be understood if you have an encounter with them. Its really devastating. The sharing of blood is real and fact.
I would like to know if I could find a documentary on CAT in South Africa! Personally I was unaware that my partner was taking CAT. I had simply no idea or information on drug, as I research this drug called CAT I am horrified by what I see with Nyaope. DOES CAT HAVE THE SAME EFFECT AS NYAOPE IF ANYONE KNOWS PLEASE RESPOND
A journalist who actually cares and serves humanity. I can sleep in peace now.
8:05 that is not how science works man… It's the same logic of eating the lion's heart to absorb the lion's strenght, which is bullshit.
He is just injecting himself with a plethora of disease, most of the drug would have already left that area of the blood vessel by the time he pulls the blood back into the needle.
Who ever who disliked this ke satane
Look I don’t get this why is he’s name Jesus his name is Jesus he smokes drinks alcohol gets crazy on crack what!!!!!! NAH
This story is so painful for me I wish I cn also find some1 to come and help my 25 year old brother who is also a nyaope addict.
This is the government's fault because they ignored the drug problem that has been increasing for years in South Africa. They thought it was only a problem in the coloured community, look now. They best take action before it gets worse.
It would be poetic justice if the corrupt police's children became drug addicts.
Nice to see a good outcome for that young man.
The Nigerian woman that is back in Nigeria their mus watch this an see if is nice or the Olso heartless like their sons who come an kill our generation
🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽… God bless you and thank you for saving this one ❤️
When you tell stories and play music and exaggerate things lol it's happens everywhere you saw him " hmmm haa I will stab anybody and shoot anybody lol nawa
Nigerians 😞
Sooner later Africa will not have one man standing
Smh..what the hell!? It would be good to see these people developing their country, stopping the crime, and growing the economy. This drug, gang banging, and widespread rape is crippling the region…smh
I see young men who have made up thier mind that they are the walking dead, passing niddles around and HIV infected one at that. Lord show them mercy and open thier eyes
Mr Gordon God bless you and protect you and give you answers for the problem of your people
My Lord and savior JESUS CHRIST have mercy on your name sacke Jesus and keep him in the light and not let him go back to the darkness.
Supplier is def Nigerian 😒😒😒
God Bless Jesus 💖
Soo Proud of Jesus
Methadone ..
Damn.. The Supplier is a Nigerian… So sad!
Konje Ingoma abayicule ekugcineni mbani igama layo ingthintile kakhulu :ensimini……
as a South African I am truly grateful to this guy for making an effort. Black children are leaving school, robbing, raping because of this Nyaope. thank you, sir. the are many South Africans who do not have the guts to do what you are doing hence the only this they notice in this documentary is that you are not a South African. Some of us notice the effort because we know how this is killing the youth.
Hi. May you please provide me with the details of the rehabilitation center you took Jesus to, I have a brother who is struggling with nyaope addiction and I'd like to take him there. Or anyone who has the details please provide
Let me try this shit! ;D
This thing is killing our family
My brother has been smoking this thing from 2007…. He still alive… But we also suffer because we are affected by his smoking 🚬. 😔😔 He does want to stop….. We've tried several times to help him but he keeps on going back.
When will someone tell these retards that injecting another users blood won't get you high , but it will get you HIV and hepatitis..
drug addiction is a serious illness, YES, Illness!!! We need to do more for our youth.
"Life is difficult"
Thank you for this documentary about our country.
Horror film
The further you drift from God, the more you will suffer.