VIDEO: Coming out stronger on the other side of a pandemic

In his past Themba Qalani used to hijack cars and mug people to feed his cocaine and heroin addiction.

An addict for half of his life, on March 27, the first day of the country’s lockdown, he had his last fix.

As the coronavirus pandemic swept into SA, Qalani was living on the streets in Braamfontein. Considered as a displaced person by the city, the 30-year-old was relocated with an initial group of 600 people to a temporary shelter at the Bertha Solomons Recreation Centre in Jeppestown.

Here, he made a choice to get clean.

“Covid-19 is a bad disease but I take this time as a blessing,” he says. “This is an opportunity for me, and others like me, to clear our minds.

Themba Qalani is seen the in main hall sleeping area at the shelter. Picture: Michel Bega

“We can use government-provided resources to change our lives, to find out who we are and what we want in life. A fix only lasts about five hours, but after that high you’re back at square one. We can’t say as homeless people that we have been locked up. We have actually been given a place to hide from the virus, and this is a good place to change our lives.”

Not everyone has remained at the shelter, though. A few hundred have returned to the streets, taking their chances against the pandemic. But for Qalani, living at the shelter has helped him find a new role as a leader. He organises the residents in their daily activities and acts as the contact person for NGOs and government departments that visit the centre.

A resident at the shelter is seen in the yard of the centre. Since the lockdown restrictions were relaxed residents are allowed to leave during the day and return in the evening, but have to sanitise and have their temperatures checked before being allowed in. Picture: Michel Bega

But the physical addiction is not easy to break. The Anova Health Institute provides methadone daily to the recovering addicts to ease drug withdrawal symptoms. And Sanca offers detox medication and multi-vitamins to help build their immune systems.

In his new role Qalani has also realised an inherent gift allowing him to speak easily to large groups. “I always tell the guys: it’s up to them if they want to get clean. The choice is theirs. Mine is to stay clean.”

After his mother died when he was six, his childhood was troubled. “My grandmother and I had problems so I couldn’t stay with my family.”

Eventually, social workers moved him into the state system, ferrying him from one children’s home to the next. But his restless nature saw him return to the streets, finding comfort in gangsterism and drugs.

Jam Nyaka smokes a mixture of heroin, dagga and tobacco. Nyaka this week left the shelter heading back to the streets. Picture: Michel Bega

In his late teens and early 20s he found himself running with the gangs of Westbury, heavily involved in a life of crime: stealing cars, mugging people and holding up shops. “In crime, there’s a lot of money. I used to spoil myself – buying clothes, going to parties.”

But eventually his brazen, dangerous lifestyle caught up with him – he was arrested and imprisoned.

“In prison, I started learning that life doesn’t have to be about crime.”

After his release, Qalani was taken in by a Brazilian pastor who saw potential in him. “Thanks to him, I learned that there are people who are willing to give you a chance as long as you are also willing to help yourself. I learned how to be humble and patient. And how to help others.”

This guidance was enough for Qalani to turn a corner away from crime, but his addiction did not abate.

“The thing with heroin is that it helps you forget all your problems. You feel very relaxed.”

To feed his habit, he picked up odd jobs, hustling by washing cars and helping DJs set up events. “I even rented a place for myself in Germiston, which unfortunately burnt down before the lockdown.”

He believes that NGOs are not genuinely helping the displaced.

Residents at the displaced people’s temporary shelter are seen in the sun outside a doorway at the Bertha Solomons Recreation Centre. Picture: Michel Bega

“If you help a person with food today, what about tomorrow? If you can help a person with employment then that person can put food on the table for themselves. There’s a lot of skilled people on the streets, but they don’t get employment. They get used. And the NGOs get money. The people don’t get help.”

Qalani says the shelter’s inhabitants possess a range of skills and include carpenters, chefs, plumbers, electricians and IT technicians, among others.

While some of the shelter’s residents come and go, Qalani has stayed put.

“This is my only chance to stay away from drugs. There are temptations out there. If I can get clean, and be done with that life, I can go out and hustle for a better life. My next step is to find a job, a proper job. I’d like to help others, the way I’m doing here at the shelter. I’d like to motivate people – show users a better way of life.”

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