Man rises from addiction to become a pilot

Battling addiction from the age of 19, a now recovering Barberton man is working towards his dream of becoming a commercial pilot after recently receiving his qualification as a private pilot.

Hugo Mathebula (23) had become addicted to crystal meth while he was a student in Limpopo.

“From a young age, I wanted to be a pilot. That was the dream. But my parents thought it would be better to go study and get a degree, so that is what I did. Things were going really well during my first year. I was doing well in my exams. I had started my own business, helping students in underdeveloped areas with access to Wi-Fi,” said Mathebula.

He said towards the end of his second year, he was battling to keep up with his business and studies and that his usual method of Bioplus and Red Bull to keep awake and energised was not working anymore.

“A few friends said they could help me keep up with all the work and that is when I started with crystal meth. For the next six months, things were good. All my assignments were on time. I was excelling in my exams and business was booming, but then everything started spiralling out of control.

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“During my third year, I dropped out. I hadn’t been to classes in three months and all I did was stay in my room and wait for dealers to drop off meth.”

Mathebula said after he had dropped out, his parents told him he had to come home and that he had had enough chances.

“It wasn’t that they didn’t support me, it was rather that they did not have the funds for me to go back and start studying again.”

He said he found a place to stay near his family and a dealer in Barberton who would drop off the meth at his room.

“I then went into psychoses. I thought the world was ending. I went up into the Barberton mountains and would just walk around and do very reckless things because I thought the world would be over soon. I was so convinced.

“When this happened, it brought my whole family to tears.”

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Barberton Recovery Centre’s Pr Melissa Venter said the day Mathebula was bought to the centre was a very sad one.

“His family said he had been locked in his room for weeks and refused to come out. His parents were very distressed and called the police in an attempt to get him out. The police arrived and eventually ended up throwing teargas into the room and as he exited, they put him in handcuffs and drove him to the centre,” said Venter.

That is when Mathebula’s journey to recovery finally began.

“After being at the centre for five months and a few weeks, I felt fully recovered and that is when I started taking my dream to become a pilot more seriously.”

Through the help of the centre, Mathebula started lessons to become a private pilot.

“The first time I took my mom flying, I cried. When I came back home from my studies, she didn’t trust me and would always hide her purse. I never ever stole from her or my family, but she didn’t trust me.

“When she climbed into the plane to fly with me, I realised that she trusted me again. She was trusting me with her life and that just made me so emotional.”

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Mathebula has now been free from addiction for a year and six months, but actively continues to work on his recovery.

“I have seen addicts who have slipped up after eight years of being clean. Recovery is like a garden. You have to work on it all the time to ensure it stays healthy and grows.”

Mathebula is currently working towards his commercial pilot licence and trying to get funding for exams and tests.

To find out more about Mathebula’s journey and his studies to be a commercial pilot, email Melissa Venter of Barberton Recovery Centre at melissa@barbertonrecoverycentre.co.za.

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