​Recovering substance user’s father Michael Masisi is over the moon following the admission of his 35-year-old son into a government funded rehabilitation treatment centre.
His son was admitted at Freedom Recovery Center in Nigel, where he will undergo a six week drug detoxification program.

According to Masisi, his son has been abusing substance for almost 20 years and has been to five different privately run rehabilitation centres with no recovery luck, but it cost him a lot of money.

He said, “I have even taken him to Zimbabwe for a year-long rehabilitation but had to come back home as his passport expired. When he was back in the country, I became scared and worried for his life because I knew that drugs were easily accessible in our communities. I sent him to another recovery place in Turffontein, trying to protect him and thinking that he was going to be safe”.

Masisi said his son again managed to get drugs while in Turffontein, so he had to come back home. “He relapsed and went back to his old ways with his friends. All my son’s friends who he was smoking with have passed away, and we buried the last one in 2022”.

He said early this month, “My wife got a call from a Social Worker from the Gauteng Department of Social Development informing us that my son has been booked into a rehab centre in Nigel. It has been a week now since my son has been admitted to the centre, and my family and I are so grateful and can not stop thanking the Social Development Department for what they have done for us”.

Masisi added he is thankful that his son is recovering for free and will leave the rehab with a qualification that will help him in the future.

The Freedom Recovery Center offers different accredited qualification courses such as computers, sewing, gardening, welding, and woodwork.