Five addicts check into rehab on Valentine’s Day
ALEXANDRA – Five more nyaope addicts check into rehab.
Five more nyaope addicts from Kuki Mokoena’s feeding scheme were booked into a rehabilitation centre on Valentine’s Day.
Johannes Bopape, Thato Ndobe, Edward Dlamini, Khotso Tlaka, and another man who refused to speak to Alex News, were determined to seek help in beating their addiction.
Bopape (25) said he was looking forward to changing his life for the better. “I used to be accused of things that I knew nothing about. That would often reflect negatively on my family.”
He hoped that going to rehab would change people’s perception of him. “I want people to see that I am not the person they think I am. Hopefully going to rehab will change that.”
Ever since Bopape started smoking nyaope three years ago, his sister Damaris Molepo said he has changed completely. “Before he started smoking nyaope, he was a wonderful person. We still have a lot of furniture he bought while he was still working, now he has changed.”
She said Nyaope addicts were often suspects of crime in the community. “That affected us so much, especially our mother who has high blood pressure.”
Molepo mentioned that Bopape has been talking about going to rehab for a while and was happy that he finally did it.
Another addict, Ndobe said rehab will help him change his life around. “My life was dependent on this drug, the first thing I did when I was young was to smoke.”
He said he would try by all means not to go back to drugs when he comes out of rehab. “I will look for a job to keep busy because it will be easy for me to go back to smoking nyaope if I do not keep busy.”
Dlamini said he has been smoking for about five years. He started smoking nyaope as a way of passing time. “Family problems also contributed to me starting to smoke nyaope. I wanted to forget about things that were happening at home.”
He was determined to beat his addiction by doing his best to stay off drugs. He further mentioned that the drug made him anti-social.
Mokoena is happy that her boys were showing initiative to change their lives. She said since the first article was published in Alex News, she has been getting calls from people who were eager to help her in any way they could.
“The Revelation church came on board and asked me to write a list of things I need to run the feeding scheme successfully. I also get groceries from them from time to time,” Mokoena said.
“Another company is willing to take in recovering addicts and offer a course to them while earning a stipend. This is great because they will have something to keep them busy while earning money in the process.”
She thanked the South African National Council on Alcoholism for their continued support.
