Bulawayo Youths Abuse Banned Cough Syrup
Mgcini Dlamini
YOUTHS in Bulawayo are imbibing in highly addictive strong illegal substances and outlawed medicine sold in the underworld, as they seek ecstasy from dangerous drugs that have severe adverse health implications.
Hundreds of youths are into illegal drug abuse and The Zambezi Times could not independently establish how many people are into the drug abuse as police and youth organizations said they do not have statistics.
“It is difficult to give statistics on illegal drug abuse because it has been there from time immemorial. But, as police we always investigate and arrest drug peddlers,” said Bulawayo acting police spokesperson, assistant inspector Nomalanga Msebele.
But, following demands by Bulawayo’s Emakhandeni suburb for the banishment of a well-known drug peddler, Jones, this publication undertook an investigation into the illegal drug business.
Recently, Jones, was among three residents savagely robbed by a gang of at least 10 axe-wielding thieves who made away with more than US$600.
Consecutively, residents laid the blame on Jones for the shocking and daring robbery, accusing him of enticing the thieves with his lucrative illegal drug business.
While The Zambezi Times could not fully ascertain Jones surname as various names were thrown around this publication managed to discover that he resides at a rented house in the Woza area of Emakhandeni, where he sells his drugs.
Among the cocktail of illegal stuff that he sells include the prohibited cough syrup, Broncleer popularly known as Ngoma, chemical treated marijuana called ‘skunk’ and white-sniffing-powder called Tik.
Most of Jones customers are mainly from Njube, New Lobengula and Emakhandeni. He stashes the illegal drugs in next door houses and police have so far failed to arrest him.
Police spokesperson, Msebele, exclusively told The Zambezi Times that they have failed to arrest Jones.
“On Jones he was a victim of the robbery. As the police we did our investigation and searched his house but we found nothing. Currently, there is a group of Criminal Investigations Department officers investigating him but they have found nothing. We do suspect that he is into illegal drugs business, but as police we do not have evidence currently,” said Msebele.
However, The Zambezi Times unearthed that Broncleer is smuggled from South Africa by cross border transporters commonly known as ‘Omalayitsha’.
A 100ml bottle of Broncleer contains 96.5 % alcohol content and it goes for 70 Rand in the underworld market.
Broncleer contains codeine which is a group of compounds called ipiods, and when taken in small quantities control pain and reduce cough.
Conversely, when taken in large quantities it reduces inhibitions and gives a sense of euphoria such as one gets from harder drugs such as heroine.
After taking it addicts fail to talk or walk and continual smile and in street lingo this is called “ukusticker.
Broncleer is outlawed in Zimbabwe.
Omalayitsha charge 2 500 Rand for a box of 50 Broncleer bottles and in turn drug dealers sell a bottle for 70 Rand each, thus making 1000 Rand profit from a full box and 20 Rand from each bottle.
The publication also discovered that there is a close knit group of drug dealers and cross border transporters operating in Entumbane, Makokoba, Mzilikazi, Nkulumane, Cowdray Park and Pumula.
“I recently smuggled 66 boxes and I made good monies. I sometime supply Jones but I deal with people from Entumbane, Makokoba, Pumula and other townships,” said Bheki, a driver of a Toyota Quantum that plies the Johannesburg-Bulawayo route.
“With lockdown my boss would partner with others and hire a heavy duty truck and go and collect goods from South Africa. We will wait for him at Beitbridge border and once he gets to the Zimbabwean side we off load our goods and load them to our vehicles and we drive to Bulawayo,” added Bheki.
This reporter posed as a buyer to one of Jones runners and managed to purchase a bottle of Broncleer for 70 Rand.
“You are asking too much are you a police officer,” asked the runner.
Nonetheless, armed with the Broncleer bottle, this reporter managed to gather more information from addicted youths.
“Nothing is for free my brother you have to understand. Yes I know Jones and we usually buy from him but if you want good stuff you have to go to Apollo (another Emakhandeni section) that is where you get the black tops from Chief and Privy,” said one Ngoma addict, Admire Ndlovu.
“I hate beer and Ngoma is superb. When you take it you must make sure that it doesn’t make any contact with your teeth as they will rot so we use cones to take it. When I take it I get so high and enjoy the feeling,” added Ndlovu.
Another drug addict, one Samuel Chidangwara aged 21, revealed that they take up piece jobs to sustain their addiction.
“With water shortages we take a push-cart and go and get people water from the borehole. We charge 100 Rand for a full cart. Sometimes we clean people’s yards and they pay us. We always hustle and we always make money,” said Chidangwara.
This publication discovered that some addicts raise money for drugs through illegal gambling. One youth from Emakhandeni lost a set of couch in gambling.
Another youth, Mqaphelisi Ndlovu, stole a television set from his home as the cravings for Ngoma got the better of him.
“I told him that this will destroy his life but he will not listen to me. People tell us that they see him in Makokoba. He is a thief and my grandchild if he doesn’t change his ways will end up in jail,” said his grandmother,” Prisca Dube.
The Zambezi Times also uncovered that other than Ngoma, Tick and Skunk are other popular drugs.
Tick is a white powder that contains crystal methamphetamine and is extracted from ex/reject Japanese cars exhaust silencers and packed into small sachets and sold for 80 Rand a pack.
Addicts take Tik the same way as they do cocaine.
“This is ghetto cocaine and it is massive. When I want to get extra high I go for Tik,” said one Nqobile who was putting on worn out shoes.
Vehicles have varying amount of the powder and rogue mechanists remove it and sell to drug peddlers.
“Some mechanics extract it without the owner knowing. Obviously it was placed there for a certain reason and therefore if you remove it, it will have a negative effect on the performance of your car,” said Tendai Mupfumira, a mechanic.
Chemical treated marijuana commonly known as ‘Skunk’ in the streets is another drug that youths take.
A small sachet of Skunk goes for 25 Rand and one can smoke it twice.
Skunk is smuggled into Zimbabwe by ‘OMalayitsha’ who buy a cob of the drug for about 400 Rand in South Africa and come back to Zimbabwe and package it into satchets ranging from 50 to 60.
Donovan Tshuma, a medical doctor, warned that the abuse of cough syrups may lead to death.
“In large dose, codeine depresses the area of the brain responsible for breathing and this unfortunately leads to episodes of overdoses and in some cases, death from asphyxiation,” said Tshuma.
“Other components in these preparations include Promethazine and Diphenhydramine. These work against allergic reactions but in high dosage will also lead to respiratory depression. Therefore a combination of all these substances in one medicine can have a very severe effects if taken in large doses,” added Tshuma.
Thando Gwinji, director at Youth Innovative Trust, said youths abused drugs to escape from the sad reality facing them due to the poor and underperforming economy.
“Drug abuse is mostly associated with depression and mental health. Most young people lost their jobs during lockdown. Even though most were unemployed but prior to the lockdown they could do piece jobs and now that they are no longer there it depresses a lot of people,” said Gwinji.
“In every corner in townships people are selling cheap spirits like Star Can and there are too many shebeens. The effects are detrimental on young people and youths now work to satisfy their addiction and this is a terrible cycle. Drug abuse has also led to unwanted pregnancies, STIs and HIV infections,” she added.
Romio Matshazi, executive director at Active Youth Zimbabwe said Broncleer cough syrup is a dangerous drug.
“Ingoma my brother is a cough syrup drug which is not allowed in Zimbabwe because of its content of Nicotine and other dangerous chemicals. And it’s not registered to be used in Zimbabwe. Its effects are so tense and you talk of tooth decay, sweating and lack of appetite,” he said.
Matshazi also revealed that youths also take rat poison.
“The newly discovered drug is called Za-baba/Cat used through rat poison, sanitizers and marijuana. This makes the used become hyper active and the person loses interest in sleeping for over many hours up to one week,” said Matshazi.
