Simone de Klerk (24) is a recovering drug addict.
From the age of 15 she used marijuana, cocaine, crystal meth, ecstasy, cat (methcathinone), and GHB, among others.
Eight years later she went to a rehabilitation centre in Boksburg.
Now eight months clean, de Klerk is receiving help at 1 2 Be Free, a halfway house that helps recovering drug addicts reintegrate into society, in Sundowner.
“I got in because I was curious,” says the former Pretoria resident.
“I was a very social person and had lots of friends. I started off with weed [marijuana]. One thing led to another.”
As de Klerk’s addiction grew, it affected her behaviour.
“I was destructive. I was ruining not only my life but my family.”
According to de Klerk, she spent about R5 000 every weekend on drugs.
This required all her money and life savings. She also stole from her family and workplace, and pawned many possessions.
“You have no control over it,” she says. “You just think about your next fix.” De Klerk’s family kicked her out the house.
“I reached the point where I had nothing and no one. It was a very dark place.”
In desperation, De Klerk reached out to her mother, who took her for rehabilitation.
Now, de Klerk has hope for her future.
“I work on a programme with five pillars that really help,” she says.
Her goals include having her own residence and family, and to live a “clean life”.
She also wants to counsel families of recovering drug addicts. 1 2 Be Free owner and therapeutic directer Justin Jansen says that seeing de Klerk’s success is rewarding. “Recovering addicts from here now have cars, jobs, hope…” he says. “That is the most empowering thing, to see people who came with no hope, now have hope.”
Details: 12 Be Free 011 794 4171.
