FEATURED STORY: "THIN END OF TIK DEPENDENCY "

 

As tik tightens its addictive grip on the Western Cape, a worrying new trend is emerging: teenagers and young women going on the "tik diet" to shed unwanted kilos, reports The Big Issue SA.

 

"I have always had issues with my weight ever since I can remember. I have tried everything, but never really followed through with the difficult ones, like Weigh Less. Through peers I discovered that tik was the easiest way to keep my weight down. Whenever something went wrong or when I felt fat, I used tik to feel better. It curbed the binge eating and gave me a false sense of confidence, made me feel sexier", says Stacy-Anne Michaels, 28, one of a growing number of young South African women turning to tik (methamphetamine) for a quick-fix weight loss solution.< ...
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Thunyiswa Pilisani

 

Thunyiswa Pilisani is a pillar of strength for her two sons Mvuyo, 20, and Mzuvumile, 17. Everything she does is for them, and her aim is to teach them how to be the best men they can be.

 

Hailing from Cofimvaba in the Eastern Cape, Thunyiswa came to Cape Town deter-mined to make a better life for her children. When she could not find the work she so anxiously sought, Thunyiswa tried desperately to make ends meet by selling chips and sweets in her community. But it wasn’t enough to provide for her growing sons and, in her quest to find a better and more stable form of income, she came to The Big Issue in 2004.

 

Thunyiswa’s days follow a fairly regular schedule: “When I get to my pitch at about 8am I usually hav ...
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Get a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes workings of THE BIG ISSUE by visiting our blog.

 

I usually don't get too concerned when man-child Julius Malema opens his chubby mouth and spews forth another of his pearl...
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VISION

The Big Issue is a socially responsible non-profit organisation that enables willing unemployed and marginalised adults to take responsibility for their own lives through a developmental employment programme.

MISSION

To publish a saleable, quality magazine that serves as an economically viable job-creation tool offering developmental self-employment opportunities to marginalised adults to enable them to move from social exclusion to self-sufficiency.

To create a platform that promotes the principles of social responsibility.

To empower beneficiaries to achieve the dignity of independence through life intervention and skills development programmes.

To achieve organisational self-sustainability through socially responsible income-generating activities.