Whoonga

Whoonga (or wonga), nyaope and sugars are South African street names for heroin.[1][2][3][4][5]

Heroin came into widespread use in South Africa in 2009[6] but the epidemic of heroin addiction has escalated since 2013[1] as prices have fallen rapidly in recent years.[1] Heroin is primarily used by unemployed young men.[4]

  1. ^ a b c Heroin use has spread as prices plummet, Jesse Copelyn, GroundUp, 9 October 2024
  2. ^ SA is facing a fast-escalating heroin crisis — and it’s being misunderstood, Jesse Copelyn, Daily Maverick, 17 April 2024
  3. ^ The work of whoonga, an epidemic on the move, Mark Hunter, The Daily Maverick, 27 July 2018
  4. ^ a b Heroin hustles: Drugs and the laboring poor in South Africa, Mark Hunter, Social Science & Medicine Volume 265, November 2020
  5. ^ Time for a rational response to the heroin epidemic, Imraan Buccus, IOl, 30 October 2024
  6. ^ Maseko, Nomsa (18 March 2015). "South African townships' addictive drug cocktail". BBC News.