‘Books saved my life’
"The thing about drugs is that they make you feel good, but what you don't realise is that they are silently destroying you.”
THE LIFE of an ordinary young man changed from normal to upside-down in a split second because of a silly experiment with drugs.
He was soon homeless and begging for money on the streets of Johannesburg.
Philani Dladla (27) grew up confronted by domestic violence and poverty in the dusty streets of Oshabeni near Port Shepstone.
Philani’s tale began on his 12th birthday when his mother’s employer, Joseph Castyline, gave him a book, ‘Last White Parliament’ as his very first birthday gift.
At the time he couldn’t really understand the book, but read it anyway.
Mr Castyline died and, in his will, left everything he owned to Philani’s mother, including 500 collectible books for Philani.
Trouble began in 2006 when he started doing his N3 business management course at the then Esayidi FET College in Oslo Beach.
He fell in with the wrong crowd and started drinking, smoking and bunking classes.
“I wanted to be one of the cool guys, but that eventually backfired on me. I was even stabbed,” he said.
He spent weeks in hospital and none of his ‘cool friends’ visited him.
“Back in my community I was labelled with all sorts of names like nsangwini (pot head) and that drove me to the edge. I tried taking my own life many times.”
Moving from Port Shepstone to Jozi
In 2008, his mother decided it best he move to Johannesburg to start afresh.
Everything began well as he secured a job as a healthcare giver. “I wanted to be independent so I moved into my own apartment. I thought the best thing about living on your own was that you could choose when to make or break your own rules.”
He said life in the City of Gold was fast-paced and exhilarating and out of curiosity, he started experimenting with drugs.
“I started using weed, cocaine, heroin and nyaope… anything I could get my hands on. My plan was to have fun and never do it again. Then I discovered the thing about drugs is that once you are in, it’s hard to get out.”
After losing his job and apartment, he loitered on the streets and found himself living under the Nelson Mandela bridge.
In an effort to fund his addiction he would stand on Empire Road near Wits University with his books, selling reviews to motorists and students.
“I would use all the money to get high. I didn’t even eat or worry about bathing any more.
“When you give a drug addict money, you’re sponsoring his supplier. You may think you are being kind, but your money is the reason why there are many crimes and many lives are lost.”
He suffered on the streets, being beaten, sexually abused and eventually he tried to commit suicide at a bar after getting high.
Road to recovery
After being hospitalised for months, he was given a chance to start afresh, but would soon relapse after months of being clean.
“The road to recovery from drugs is not an easy one. The thing about drugs is that they make you feel good, but what you don’t realise is that they are silently destroying you.”
Philani took a decision to quit drugs completely after reading the book called ‘A Purpose Driven Life’ by Rick Warren. His big break came when he was interviewed by Tebogo Malope, a filmmaker who shot a video of Philani’s street bookshop and posted it online. The video went viral.
“When he shot the video, I had no idea people would love it. I thought he was doing it just to teach other kids about drugs.”
Now he has a book club which he started as a way of ‘thanking books’ for saving his life.
The young man says he still visits Port Shepstone regularly and was last here two week ago.
“Growing up in Port Shepstone, the only people I saw on the streets were those selling sweets and fruit.
“It pains me to see so many homeless people begging on every street corner of our small town. It just proves how many lives drugs have wrecked.”
Philani has now written his own book, ‘The Pavement Bookworm’, about his life, his addiction and life on the streets.
The book is available at Ramsgate Stationers.
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