Former drug addict wants to help troubled youth
“Going to jail for business robbery was an eye opener because I don’t know where would I be today if I was not taking drugs.”
A former drug addict, who is now a taxi queue marshal at the Mams Mall taxi rank, wants to help local youths to change their lives for the better.
Katlego Mmela (26) from Mamelodi East, ext 17 said taking drugs has sent him straight on the path to prison where he had to spend four years of jail imprisonment.
He said his friends introduced him to drugs which he now regrets taking because it completely destroyed his life.
Mmela said he ended up in jail because he was now involved in a crime while desperately looking for money to feed his hunger for drugs.
“Going to jail for business robbery was an eye-opener because I don’t know where I would be today if I weren’t taking drugs,” said Mmela.
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He said he wanted to help drug addicts to stop taking drugs and those who are planning to take drugs to stop as soon as possible.
“My craving for drugs forced me to do crime and my dream of becoming a lawyer ended the day I started taking drugs and could no longer finish my matric.”
Mmela said he was arrested in 2002 for a business robbery.
Today, he has been clean for years and has been working as a taxi queue marshal for 15 years.
He said he was taking care of her mother who is a pensioner by putting food on the table with the money he makes at the taxi rank.
Mmela encouraged youths to keep themselves busy with books and by participating in sports and staying focused at all times.
He further said those who are struggling to quit drugs must seek help or come to him at the taxi rank and he will help them.
“We have places in Mamelodi which run recovery programmes to help users reclaim their lives.
“I will stop at nothing to make sure that we have a drug-free community.”
He added that keeping himself busy at the taxi rank has turned his life around. Today he is loved by everyone, especially the senior citizens he helps with their bags when boarding a taxi.
The local taxi queue marshal works seven days a week from 08:00 to 19:00 and makes about R250 a day.
He was planning to use his savings to go back to school.
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