Illegal steroids popular in Stellenbosch gyms

 The use of illegal steroids for recreational training is prevalent among gym-goers in Stellenbosch says Johnwin Davids, a personal trainer at SUSPI (Stellenbosch University Sport Performance Institute) Gym.

Former personal trainer at Van der Stel Gym, Iwaan Shell, uses steroids and estimates that one in every three men in Stellenbosch gyms use steroids.

Steroid use without a prescription is outlawed in South Africa, as in many other countries. The punishment for distributing illegal steroids can be up to 10 years of imprisonment. Marc Ruiters, a SUSPI gym-goer, says there is "always a guy in the gym" who trades in illegal steroids.

Steroid can be bought from local dealers as well online. Multiple South African domains are openly dedicated to the trade of illegal steroids. Different steroids trade at different prices.  Clenbuterol sells for an estimated R450 for 50 tablets. 

SARS’s Enforcement and Customs operations stopped R585 000 worth of steroid pills entering the South African black market via courier parcels from overseas, in month of January 2013 alone.

Steroids (also called "roids") are synthetic stimulants that imitate the properties of natural hormones. These drugs are commonplace in medicine, to counter and fight illnesses and hormonal imbalances, in natural physiological doses.

Medical practitioner, Dr Herman Kotzé, at the Stellenbosch
Academy of Sport, explaining how the use of illegal steroids
 for training undermines the medicinal use of steroids. 

Dr Herman Kotzé, the medical doctor of the Western Cape under-19 rugby team, explains that the illegal use of steroids in training and sports far exceeds the doses used for medical purposes. As the hormone testosterone assists the repair and growth of muscle fibre, large unnatural doses of testosterone steroids can advance muscle growth beyond the body’s natural capability.

"I've seen guys that look better than I do in two months and I've been going to the gym for 6 years" says Werner Taljaard, a personal trainer at Virgin Active and former provincial rugby player.

"As long as I can still train I'll be using steroids, I never want to gain weight again", says Schell who initially took steroids to manage weight problems caused by hormone imbalance. Schell routinely uses the illegal weight loss drug ECA (an abbreviation for the combination of ephedrine, caffeine and aspirin) and the steroids Clenbuterol, Anavar and Winstrol to prepare for body building contests and to manage his weight.

According to Dr Kotzé the side effects outweigh the short-lived advantages of illegal steroid in training. Side effects include acne, scarring due to acne, jaw enlargement, shirking of the testes, mood changes (dubbed "roid rage") and mental illness. 

Dr Kotzé says the macro doses of steroids necessary to experience anabolic benefits, such as muscle gain and weight loss, damage most internal organs. Illegal steroid use can cause high blood pressure, certain types of cancer (such as prostate cancer), high cholesterol, diabetes, kidney problems, liver damage and heart problems.

"Every guy has thought about using steroids when he reaches his Plato. You reach a Plato where working out doesn’t help and then you consider using steroids", says Matie student and SUSPI gym-goer, Julio Clark.