THE 31-year-old, Khangelani Motha is currently a patient at the Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust’s (HACT) Respite Unit, where he is being treated for TB.
To commemorate World AIDS Day which is celebrated annually on Saturday, 1 December, he was eager to share his story in the hope that it will help others to not make the mistakes he has made.
Intelligent and athletic, Khangelani was good at school and had a potentially bright future ahead of him. However, after the death of his father when he was 15, Khangelani’s life changed drastically as his mother remarried and he was sent to live with his cousins.
His mother stayed in contact, but the loss of his father and the isolation from the rest of his close family, grieved him. Khangelani dropped out of his studies.
“She (his mother) made sure I had money for food. She gave it to my cousins for grocery shopping, but I didn’t get along with my cousins so I didn’t always eat.”
At 21, he tried hard drugs.
“They are the kind of drugs that make you feel good now and even good tomorrow. They stop you from feeling anger and pain. But they are dangerous to your life and it is very hard to give them up.”
Khangelani became very ill for the first time in 2012. He was 25 years old and had been living on the streets around Pinetown, taking drugs, and moving back and forth between the streets and his cousins’ place. It was then that he found out he was HIV positive with Tuberculosis (TB).
“I started HIV and TB treatment and got some counselling and soon felt a lot better. But then I went back to my cousins and the old frustrations came back. I stopped taking my treatment.”
The TB came back and the cycle continued.
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In 2018, Khangelani became seriously ill. The symptoms of TB were back, but much worse.
He was hardly eating, wracked by diarrhoea, weak and battling to breathe.
“I got so ill that I had to be carried to the clinic. This was in June this year. Eventually I was admitted to the Respite Unit. They care for you personally,” he said.
“They give you more attention; you get good, healthy food. The nurses are great – better than in the hospitals. Now I can take 40 to 50 steps and breathe more freely.”
When he was taken by the unit’s staff to the hospital for scans, they found active TB with sores on his lungs. Khangelani said he is not in a rush to go back home because he wants to get completely better this time; and stay on his medication.
“My advice to others is to not take drugs – you will make bad decisions, get sick and then die. I had no idea what I was doing and who I got the HIV from.
“On drugs you will feel good today, but terrible later. Just trying to stop after taking drugs for one day is hard, the drugs damage you.”
Khangelani finds it difficult to think about what will happen next. He has decided, though, to take one step at a time.
“It helps that my mum knows now how I feel. I am grateful that she is very supportive and both mum and my stepdad visit me here. Mum wants me to talk about what I have been through; to help others to stay out of trouble and stay away from drugs.”
To show your support for the Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust on World AIDS Day, contact the centre on 031 765 5866 or e-mail fundraising@hillaids.org.za.
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