Fires light the roadside. Around each one gathers a crack merchant and his runners. This is the city's most densely populated area and it's four years into a crack cocaine war. Nigerian drug cartels are blamed for the trouble. They moved into the now notorious Sands Hotel in 1994 and started dealing crack. Sex is part and parcel of the trade. "The easiest way to build up clientele is to get hold of hooker. Because if she has just that one hit, every time she turns a trick she's going to be back across the road for more." The corrupt police are no help. A visit from them usually means a drug sale rather than a drug bust. From the heady days of 1994, Hillbrow has become a crack ghetto where kids as young as eight are hardened addicts.

Produced by SABC Special Assignment