Clemans Miyanicwe

KHORIXAS - Shocking revelations were made on Monday by a community member Rosa !Ganes who said some children at the north-western town of Khorixas spike their unsuspecting parents’ drinks to make them sleepy and go to bed early to enable these children to sneak out of their parents’ houses at night unnoticed.

“Some children spike their parents’ tea or coffee before they go out and they also spike other children’s drinks at bars with eye-drops,” !Ganes informed the public dialogue meeting held at Khorixas on Monday.

These children also smoke antiretrovirals (ARVs), the public dialogue meeting was informed.
 !Ganes, a member of the Welwitschia People With Disabilities group said the revelations were made by an official from Ministry of Health and Social Services at the Constituency Aids Coordinating Committee (Caccoc) meeting held a few months ago. “These children apparently spiked their parents’ tea with eye-drops and went clubbing once their parents fell asleep,” !Ganes maintained.

Nyaope, a dangerous cocktail of dagga, heroin, ARV, rat poison and acid mainly being used among South African youth and is highly addictive and destructive, is also being used by the youth of Khorixas.
One elderly woman reacted at the gathering, “So we must be careful of of our children making tea for us. Maybe one has to ask them (children) to first taste the tea before we drink it.”

Samson /Awaseb, senior councillor of the /Gaio-daman Traditional Authority, said that children as young as twelve years usually congregate at a local store nearby the United Democratic Front (UDF) head office at the north-western town and openly smoke cannabis, between 20h00 and 22h00 every night. 

“At times I chase them away and I even contacted the police on numerous occasions but to no avail,” a disappointed /Awaseb informed the public gathering.

Lena #Gaeses, a deputy chairperson of the management committee of Khorixas Town Council , said she has on numerous occasions also alerted the local police to patrol the riverbed around Welwitschia Junior Secondary School (WJSS) as some pupils usually smoke dagga in the riverbed.

#Gaeses, who is also the head of department at WJSS, was concerned about some community members selling tobacco and cannabis to learners in school uniform. “What do we expect from these learners if the community sells them tobacco and drugs? We usually give information to the police but nothing is being done about it as it looks like no one cares,” said a concerned #Gaeses.

#Gaeses pleaded with the community to speak out as their silence is slowly destroying the futures of these children who seem addicted to dagga and nyaope and are generally unruly and disrespectful.