Saved from nyaope

Bela-Bela’s self-confessed rehabilitated drug addict, Piet Kutu, has emerged from two years’ imprisonment to commit to help others trapped in the vicious circle of substance abuse.

Speaking during a visit to The BEAT — in the company of Peter Moabi of Lettie’s Skills Development Primary Co-operative — Kutu poured his heart out about how he could not bury his own mother because he was in jail.

The rehabilitated substance abuse victim is currently working with Moabi to nudge other local drug addicts to kick the habit.

The concoction called nyaope has been particularly devastating in destroying the future of many youngsters in Bela-Bela and elsewhere.

“I spent two years in prison for housebreaking and theft, all because I was trying to feed an addiction,” he said.

He said people like Moabi had given him a second chance in life, and he committed to use his spare time to help others.

Kutu said he spent two years behind bars at the Devon Correctional facility in Mpumalanga, wherein he spent most of the time re-positioning his life, through exercise and writing poetry.

He said his mother died and was buried while he himself was locked up in prison.

In addition, Kutu said before he went to jail, two of his fellow drug addicts had died, allegedly as a direct result of substance abuse.

“Through the support of people like Moabi, I have come to realise how precious my life is,” he said.

A somewhat steady trend has emerged in recent weeks whereby both drug addicts and at least one self-confessed drug dealer have come out clean about their ways.

Bela-Bela’s Thapelo Motauntg — expected to appear in court on Friday 24 August — has pledged on a public platform to help the community fight the scourge of substance abuse.

— The BEAT