to the freedom of russia. and featuring a lead role like you've never seen before. the premier said america to the ends justify the means. to tim's witnesses starts december 13th on d.w. . good credit. this is news africa coming up in the next 15 minutes carol with use is shooting up in south africa a new study has found its wreaking havoc in communities across the country all the police making the program works. at a beauty contest in ivory coast that's about a natural hair but is how black women where they hear dividing them.

hello i'm christine want to welcome to news africa it's good to have you along cheryl when is having a devastating effect on communities across south africa that's the conclusion off a study by an e.u. funded projects known as in that they base their findings on interviews with gang members as drug deal is uses and what they also found the government and law enforcement all failing to settle the problem a drug court made off low grade heroin is presenting a particular challenge and just a warning that some of us may find some images in our report distressing. a backyard in so wet oh south africa's largest township twin brothers marvin in eagle come here every day to get. it's a form of low grade heroin cut with other substances and it's far cheaper than pure

reforms of the truck. it's sold widely across south africa there is little fear of prosecution. so to take the stuff from. the stuff it's right. according to a recent study poor policing is behind the growing heroin crisis in south africa of their 4 euro's daily income as car guards marvin and eagle spend half an lp. the one who takes the 1st hit draws blood into the syringe he then injects this into his brother's vein this dangerous practice is called bluetooth ing it saves

money but transmits deadly diseases the twins hope to be able to get clean one day . the nature of. the insight. now of things i want to leave you open if they should come to you know because no pleased in japanese north of pretoria the organisation i guess a job encourages drug users to never give up hope the founder moses lets low slow was an addict and dealer himself it all changed when he was caught with 60 kilograms of marijuana at a london airport in 2006 after spending 4 years in jail he returned to south africa and decided to help other addicts turn their lives around. if you like or you know they go through like you or your marriage they're living your life let so slow strategy for reaching out to fellow addicts a simple. listening to them making them feel the someone who wants

to listen to me you know because off. them goes they are victims of circumstances. back with the 2 brothers eagle takes the 1st hit. then he injects his intoxicated blood into marvin marvin stayed clean for 6 weeks at the beginning of the year but after watching to get high every day he started taking drugs again but soon the brothers want to stay off drugs together before it's too late. my 1st guest today is sean shady he is the founder of the south africa drug policy week it's an awareness program welcome to to africa show and see how widespread is the problem off heroin and yelp use in south africa. well you don't actually know what it says sidney increasing we haven't got accurate figures that is there's no daughter that one can rely on but we know that it is certain creasing and that is

an abundance of supply and we are picking up more and more issues around the use of heroin in south africa right shaun said it as we've seen it from the a protectionist in our report law enforcement isn't helping. absolutely not we've got a little problems with the the whole way that drugs are managed and you know we deal with the use of drugs i think communities and law enforcement eventually become part of the problem becoming just another defector gang in the situation we're who with bribery and corruption is is the sort of standard in fact in parts of south africa law enforcement called to call drug users 80 ns automatic teller machines while and what effect is this having on south african communities the communities affected by by this heroin and healthy use well you know the issues that the communities as such disintegrating you know we finding more problems in communities and that's driving the heroin use of it which makes people

more marginalized and feel more excluded and that's creating even more of a problem to get the real issue is what is making heroin so attractive to people and what is it what is it that they're finding in it that they're not getting in the community so i think the case is that they were really problems in the community and these are just exacerbated by the by the availability of a drug which makes things seem right and intolerable circumstances tolerable is sort of alluded to it's of its actual and but you might expect since he was really going to be why now while we're being told that right now heroin use is suiting up in south africa why is it so rampant now when. well you've got a confluence of factors 1st of all we've obviously got no porous borders there's more trade taking place we've got more illicit products coming out of africa. with products that kind of thing and often that is paid for with with drugs because it's easy to use in

a cash often and we've got these poorest borders plus we've got a community there feeling disenfranchised and involved and connected and that together creates a kind of perfect storm for the and you importance of drugs in people's lives so i think that that's really come together with increasing a been a zation we're seeing the rise of drug use because it provides meaning and purpose in people's lives michael look like it from the outside but when they're lacking meaning and purpose in day to day activities they're going to look for deals with shawn quickly what can the south african government do. well i think the 1st thing they're going to do is look at alternative approach to drugs and we know that putting people in jail for drug use is not helping that drives the situation it becomes the perfect recruiting ground for gangsters and means economic exclusion going forward in the formal economy so we've really got to find a different way of approaching it we've got to have more prevention programs which start at school level and that does not mean say no to drugs prevention programs don't even involve talking about drugs they involve building strong and bitter

communities all right sean shelley thank you. thank you. now a beauty contest recently held in abidjan was all about natural. snappy 29000 was crowned in the ivory coast it's the 2nd edition of the competition and this is when it was cecilia. overnight as say the contest is aimed at scent of grating natural hair. in a moment i'll be talking to a woman who has written and commented on the subject of african hair but 1st let's listen to the 1st run up off miss nappy 29000 people at metro girls of beautiful to no need to do all these things to o'hare straightening using chemicals we have beautiful naturally. my guests today is cassie and lauren she's a musician and polish and has written

a book for children in the black so i asked for a welcome to the efficacy and so so so we've seen that they you know sent a break that idea of natural hair but yes not without controversy where do you stand on that well for me natural hair the symbol of brazilians and a symbol of power and as the black panther party for example in the seventies and eighties they all wore their afros out and as a symbol of power because when during the times of slavery that was taken away from us we were stripped of more basic humanity which is just our natural hair going out of our head and so for me like natural hair is just a sign of resilience and power but what about the black women who say i get that in that i want to win my history one way weaves and weights of why should these woke women natural hamlet didn't dictate to me what the new standards while i don't think that it's the natural woman from the local movement that's dictating anything i think it's the media and for me personally the women can wear their hair or

however they feel makes them feel or whatever they want to that makes the regular the most beautiful i wear. igs all the time i wear wigs weaves and braids orange red purple whatever i want and it's just how i'm feeling in the moment and i think that has to do a lot of women feel ok ok i mean you've talked about the policy it with this thing about some of the most powerful black women that you and i can identify with in this day and age of talking about you oprah winfrey's and michelle obama's. does it does it does it matter that we've not seen these women where they have natural like you have you here now i don't think so because it doesn't matter and this is why because these women represent people of color regardless black women specifically regardless of how our hair looks they are women who are strong who are resilient who are intelligent and them have been straight hair out for here doesn't really matter it is just showing us in

a light that is so beautiful and i think that's great but i want to ask you this i mean you have you. right now have you ever at some point in your life i caught with my hair like this this is going to work yes so when i started officially working and when i was a teenager because of the way society conditioned me as an individual as a black woman i was thought to be not beautiful have the natural hair i was in school teased about my hair being nappy i was in school i teased about my skin being too dark and for a long time i fought with these insecurities and i felt like i needed to have straight here in order to be beautiful especially to men and i think that's where the narrative about our black bodies has been pushed so long in society especially by white men the narrative is the white european standard of beauty and i was so conditioned to that until i started my journey of natural in this when i started to not wear too much makeup or i started to grow my natural hair shaved my head and

they was just you so would you say that that's a political statement how you bring me in the stand yes for me it is a political statement however. as i said before i do like to wear weaves and i do like to wear wigs and so on because it protects my hair and that's just the truth and so when it protects my hair i'm allowed to have it flourish like the way it's flourishing now where in wigs and weaves is not an issue for me. it's just like for me by having that natural and walk into sight if you like powerful right now you know it is really. ok so kassim lawrence thanks for that i thank you. and that is it for now from days of news africa you can catch all our stories on our website and facebook page will leave you now with another look at some of the different ways we can whale has backed them until next time i have.

the adventures of the famous naturalist and explorer. to celebrate comics on the phone books from 250. discovery. expedition boyd. welcome to the book is the getting here to a deep. place to talk about. this temporary.

3 more cool. little we have. let's have a look at some of the other might surprise you to see. shaking in their boots you can breathe a sigh of relief so you don't. just go. t.w. . this is still. a clip from his latest album. it's hugely controversial and shocking is usual more in a minutes also coming up. war photographer. who has published

a book featuring some of his most moving photos from conflict zones around the world. to towering figures from the enlightenment alexander. together in an exhibition in. germany's biggest and loudest band internationally and apos moscow's at manipulating the press with shock tactics. has just released his 2nd solo album and when the latest video from the new album appeared on the internet even his fans was shocked parts violence meanwhile it's been heavily censored but of course it already had the required effect of garnering headlines in the media now.