The term ‘amaphara’, possibly derived from ‘parasites’, burst into South African public culture in the 2010s to refer to petty thieves addicted to a heroin-based drug locally called whoonga/nyaope. Drawing on ethnography and media sources to interrogate the rise of ‘amaphara’, this paper argues that South Africa's heroin epidemic magnifies the attention – criticism but also sympathy – directed toward marginalised black men who have few prospects for social mobility. It locates amaphara in the national context where drug policy is largely punitive and youth unemployment rates are painfully high, but gives particular attention to families’ and communities’ experiences with intimate crimes, especially petty thefts. It further shows that amaphara is a contested term: heroin users are brothers, sons and grandchildren and they gain most of their income not from crime but by undertaking useful piece work in communities.

中文翻译：

---

亲密犯罪：海洛因和南非阿玛帕拉的兴起

术语 '阿玛婆罗'，可能源自'寄生虫'，在 2010 年代闯入南非公共文化中，指的是对当地称为海洛因的毒品上瘾的小偷whoonga/nyaope. 本文利用民族志和媒体资源来质疑“amaphara”的兴起，认为南非的海洛因流行放大了对社会流动前景渺茫的边缘化黑人男性的关注——批评但也同情。它将 amaphara 定位在毒品政策主要是惩罚性的、青年失业率高得令人痛苦的国家背景下，但特别关注家庭和社区的亲密犯罪经历，尤其是小偷小摸。它进一步表明，amaphara 是一个有争议的术语：海洛因使用者是兄弟、儿子和孙子，他们的大部分收入不是来自犯罪，而是通过在社区从事有用的计件工作。