From addiction to recovery, now agent for change - Lehlohonolo Sekgobela (30) born in Parktown, Johannesburg said he carries an empty box of matches everyday as a reminder that he cannot go back to using drugs.
The father of two children, who now resides in Brakpan, Ekurhuleni says he has made plenty of bad decisions over the 10 years of his active addiction that left him hopeless and broken.
Sekgobela said he started experimenting with drugs at a tender age and the routine got well cultivated when he got to tertiary.
"I smoked dagga and drank alcohol back in my high school days, but the habit got worse when I was doing my first year at tertiary in 2009. I started trying ecstasy with my friends at Res, we went on to smoke crystal meth, cocaine, cat, and rock; and it became an on-going destructive habit."
"There was nothing bad about it at that time because I thought it was cool to have drugs with my friends. Eventually, I found myself regularly going to Midrand to buy cocaine that is when I realized that this is becoming a habit."
"In the same year, my mother passed away, and everything took a worse turn. I started selling ecstasy pills at tertiary and at Res because it was in demand at the time and I was making extra pocket money for myself."
"That season alone, a lot of guys in my circle started falling, and I am talking fatalities. Some passed on, others got fatal accidents, and some were arrested at Res by police who were doing random searches," said Sekgobela.
With everything that was happening in his life during that time, Sekgobela used drugs as a coping mechanism.
"I deregistered at school because I was then known for selling drugs. I went back home to stay with my grandfather in Tembisa. I was known as a popular 'cheese boy' who came to the neighbourhood with expensive drugs."
"At the time, ecstasy and crystal meth were not known in Tembisa. That is when things started to get very bad because I was no longer going to school, always in the neighbourhood, partying, drinking and selling drugs," he said.
Gradually the fall started for Sekgobela, he started stealing items from home to feed his addiction.
"I remember selling my grandfather's television, a lawnmower, and toolboxes just to get a quick fix. This started to damage the relationship I had with my family. I was always in the front page of family meetings. I would spend weeks without coming home to a point where I would literally live on the streets," said Sekgobela.
His aunt took him to Hands of Compassion rehab centre that was under Rhema Bible Church in Lanseria.
"I spent 6 months doing a religious program at the centre. I was clean, sober and gained a lot of weight. Everyone in my family was happy to see me in that state."
"The mistake that I made was to go back to the environment I came from. I moved back to Tembisa, and in less than 8 months that I got out of rehab, I relapsed."
"I became a hardcore drug salesman, I would go to West Street in Kempton Park to buy drugs and sell them in Tembisa. The problem at the time is that I also got high of my own supply to a point that I went out of stock. I was not the most reliable guy, not trusted by anyone in my community," he said.
But mercy came to his rescue when he was admitted at Gauteng Department of Social Development's funded Witpoort Treatment Centre based in Brakpan.
"I told my family that I needed help, and this was during the time Covid-19 had started. I remember no rehabilitation centre was willing to take me at that moment. I was praying every day for Witpoort Treatment Centre to take me," said Sekgobela.
"Getting into the centre was a blessing," he said, adding that his addiction counsellors (social workers) at Witpoort were phenomenal, and helped him a lot.
Sekgobela is now a member of the Intsikelelo Youth Development Foundation, an organisation that assist other fellow addicts to overcome drug addiction. He is also a committee member of the Local Drug Action Committee (LDAC) in Kwa-Thema.
He has attained a certificate in Community House Building, an NQF Level 2 qualification accredited by SETA through the Department's Xilembeni Project Centre of Excellence based in Bapsfontein, Ekurhuleni.
"I humbled myself and it felt great to work with my hands again," he said.
Bearing a message of 'STOP DRUG ABUSE' on his hand, Sekgobela is now a year and half in sobriety, and said young people should seek the higher power on their road to recovery, as they cannot go through a process of recovery without spiritual connection