LIVES GOING UP IN SMOKE

In January, a BBC Africa Eye documentary shook viewers across the world and notched up nearly 100 000 YouTube hits. Saving Jesus tracked Joburg crime reporter Golden Mtika as he visited the graves of his twin nephews, then set out to save their friend, Jesus, from the same fate – in the grip of a highly-addictive heroin-based street drug.

Called whoonga in townships around Durban – where the problem first surfaced around 2010 – and nyaope in Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo, where it has spread, it’s a variation on ‘sugars’ – a cocktail based on low-grade heroin. It’s thought to be smuggled in largely through Durban’s port, and is believed to include ARVs and Rattex. However, toxicology analysis of 40 samples by Professor Aye Aye Khine