Ex-drug addict turns over new leaf

Toekomsrus resident Jermaine Minnaar who is a former drug addict has changed his life around and wants to help those still caught between a rock and a hard place.

Having successfully recovered from being a drug addict, Minnaar considers himself one of the lucky ones. Not only is he rehabilitated but is now a responsible father and son to his parents. He has moved on to being someone who is actively working on bettering his life and has been clean for almost a year now.

Also read: ‘No woman gives birth to an addict and no father raises a gangster’ – MEC to Toekies community

His life went on a downward spiral when he was in Grade 11. He mixed with the wrong crowd and started by smoking weed and to exploring other drugs such as Mandrax, Crystal meth, and Cat.

“I started smoking in high school and I initially started smoking dagga and drinking alcohol. I then gradually moved on to taking drugs through the bad friends I made. I remember I was offered Mandrax in the circle I was in and I thought to myself, ‘why not?’ This is the exact point I was introduced to drugs and little did I know that was the beginning of all of my problems.

“I quickly became addicted to it and I just couldn’t function without it. I asked my girlfriend at the time for R1 000 and I went to the CBD to buy my own. My friend and I smoked it and it was instantly finished. We went back to buy again and that’s when I knew I couldn’t escape,” said Minnaar.

Also read: Former addict finds new meaning in life, praises local rehab centre

He added that he was sinking deeper and deeper into the dark world of substance abuse and found it more difficult to bounce back. At this point, he knew he had to get a job to fund his dependency. That is when he managed to get employment at a call center in Krugersdorp and would take his salary on payday and blow it on drugs.

This resulted in him being inconsistent in the workplace over the years and would move from one job to the next, with the sole purpose of getting paid and buying drugs.

“My addiction was really bad. All I wanted to do was get my hands on drugs. I would get paid today and would blow my entire salary on drugs. I’d only give my mother and my girlfriend R1 000 each but blow the rest on the substances. I wouldn’t even have money to go to work the next day. I turned to loan sharks and also got a loan of R38 000 at the bank and blew R34 000 of this money on drugs. The rest I gave to my mother and girlfriend and I didn’t even buy myself a pair of shoes.

“The drug dealer I was buying from at the time would even chase me away and I would go to the next one, just to get my fix. It got to a point where my mother kicked me out of the house and would end up sleeping outside in winter because I had nowhere else to go. She sometimes gave me food through the burglar bars because she wouldn’t allow me in the house as I would steal household items, even from her.

He says the turning point was when one of his children, who was staying with his mother, would cry for him when his mother (Jermaine’s mother) locked him out and also wanted to sleep with him outside.

“That’s when I knew I had to make a change. I begged for forgiveness from my mother, and she let me in the house. All I needed was a warm place to stay and a hot plate of food. I remember this one time I was lying in my bed thinking I cannot go on like this. I told my mother to book me into rehab,” said Minnaar.

He added that this was the second time he went to rehab and stayed there for seven weeks and he has never looked back.

Previous to this, Minnaar was admitted to a rehab in Pretoria for six months and had a relapse, shortly after his release.
This was due to his surroundings at the time, which were a trigger to the habit he was trying so hard to kick.

He is currently doing well and is working at the local taxi association at the Toekomsrus Recovery Group.