Wed May 22 19:33:51 SAST 2013
Wed May 22 19:33:51 SAST 2013

Whoonga battle lost

Apr 12, 2011 | Corrinne Louw | 1 comments

A COMMUNITY-BASED anti-drug organisation has been forced to close its doors because of a lack of funding.

Whoonga Free, formed more than a year ago to combat drugs and rehabilitate addicted youths in townships across KwaZulu-Natal, had transformed the lives of 50 youths before it collapsed late last month.

"This is very sad," said co-founder Vumani Gwala.

The drug is a deadly concoction of heroin and rat poison. It hit the headlines last year when it emerged that one of its ingredients was anti-retroviral medication.

But University of KwaZulu-Natal's Thavendran Govender, who tested samples of whoonga, found that it was based on rat poison and heroin - not ARVs.

Gwala said since the organisation's collapse, two former members had landed in jail for rape and armed robbery.

"We tried everything to try to get funding to keep the organisation afloat but failed.

"Co-founder Thokozani Sokhulu and I used money from our own pockets for more than a year to try to keep it going, but it was just no use," he said.

Comments

Wed May 22 19:33:51 SAST 2013 ::
avatar image
Apr 12, 2011

spaceboi

Shame, but it was pissing against the wind!
Report Abuse

Read all 1 comments

Your Subscription

The SowetanLIVE Network