Young man turns over a new leaf

A former Nyaope addict has turned over a new leaf and decided to talk to the Tembisan about this drug.

Sibusiso Ketsekile was born in Tembisa.

“I don’t know my father and my mother died in 2002. I was raised by my grandmother,” he said.

He left school in grade 11 due to his abuse of nyoape.

“I was introduced to the drug in high school in 2007 by friends. When I started to high school, I thought the friends who were smoking the drug were cool and I also wanted to be cool,” he said.

He said he has been addicted to the drug for almost eight years.

Sibusiso used to steal and he wouldn’t listen to his grandparents’ warnings.

He said he was always wanted by the police and the community.

“I stole to feed my drug habit. I had to smoke all the time; if I didn’t smoke, I would get sick from the cravings. I would sweat a lot and suffer from stomach cramps,” he said.

“I always wanted to quit but I couldn’t stand the pain.”

He said when he had the pains, he would have to try by all means to get the drug.

“There was no money for rehab,” he said.

“It was bad, people didn’t want to see me. They hated me and wished bad things for me. It made me feel bad but for some reason when I was under the influence of nyaope I did not care,” said Sibusiso.

“I had been beaten many times by the community but in many cases the police would come to my rescue. At times the community would just have mercy because I looked young. If it weren’t for that, I would have been killed a long time ago.”

He said he has never been taken to a proper rehab facility but he has been put in an informal rehab centre, which did not help him.

“In the two months I was there, we had access to Nyaope; one of us would escape and get the drug,” he said.

Sibusiso said that when he left the centre he went back to the habit because he was not ready to quit.

He was arrested for residential burglary and was imprisoned at the Modderbee Prison for one year and seven months.

“I broke into a house to get money for Nyaope and received a severe punishment. In that prison there is no Nyaope.”

Sibusiso said there are programmes to help the inmates with their problems in prison.

He said in those programmes, one could disclose a problem.

“I realised that the other hidden influence of my being involved in drugs was the absence of parents, being an orphan. It is actually hurting me but I couldn’t tell that to anyone at the time,” he said.

“Now I have quit drugs and I am definitely not going back there. Prison helped me to quit. I am now determined to stay clean.”

He said he has learnt that crime doesn’t pay and that drugs will ruin your life.

“Smoke drugs and you smoke your life away,” Sibusiso warned.

“I want to say sorry to the people I have wronged before I went to jail. I truly ask for their forgiveness. I was trapped in a life of drugs. I was unaware how much I was hurting. If only they can find it in themselves to forgive me,” he said.

“To the young people who are smoking Nyaope, or any other drug, I would advise them to quit or they will find themselves in prison like myself or they will die,” he said.

Sibusiso said he is now a positive person and he just wants to work and make his life better.

He is currently doing 16 hours of community service a month as required by correctional services.