Migrants,Drugs and Xenophobia: The Case of Whoonga Park in Durban

Abstract

Whoonga, also known as “nyaope” in Cauteng and sugars in Chatsworth, is a street drug that has been widely used in South Africa from around 2010. It is most prevalent in the townships around Durban where rates of poverty and unemployment are very high. Whoonga is a highly lethal and addictive concoction that leads to anxiousness, aggression, and stomach cramps. Whoonga Park was an area in the Durban inner city which included a network of storm water and cable tunnels which, according to police, were used by criminals, allegedly foreign migrants addicted to whoonga, to carry out crime in surrounding suburbs such as Glenwood, Umbilo, and Glenmore. This article, based on qualitative research, examines the prevalence of the drug, its effects on users, and the reaction of residents, civic organisations and the Ethekweni Municipality to Whoonga Park and its residents, and how this reflects xenophobic attitudes among locals who associate foreign migrants and refugees with being drug lords and with being responsible for destroying local communities.