Lesego Segoe from Mogwase village outside Rustenburg, in the North West province, shared a story about a substance called Nyaope. Lesego started using Nyaope in Grade 11 in 2015, at J.M. Ntsime High School. He told Mo Media Newspaper that he fell into the substance abuse because of peer pressure. Nyaope is a mixture of low-grade heroin, cannabis products, Anti-Retro Viral drugs and other materials added as bulking agents.
It is a highly physically addictive mixture which its users smoke. "I would see my peers and friends smoking this drug and felt a need to join as I would see some of them sleeping most of the time. I was always super energetic and hip, and I never slept during school periods. I started smoking and realised that there was no turning back. My friend and I were popping out our lunch money and sending one of our friends to buy before the operation of school periods at Sun Village Complex. At break time, we used to gamble to gain back our money for lunch, that was an everyday thing," said Segoe.
He matriculated in 2016 and didn't stop using the substance. He passed his Matric and took a gap year. During that gap year, he was addicted to the point where he started to ask people in the Sun Village Complex if he could help them push their grocery trolleys when they were shopping. He stopped bathing and became someone he did not even know. He later met Abel Mauwane, a good Samaritan who loves helping people.
Mauwane is a man who helped the mob justice surviving victim four months ago from Ramokala village in Mogwase. Mouwane said: "Lesego would come near my car when parked at the complex asking for help, and I would push him away. One day, I decided to listen to him and find out what kind of help he needed. He asked me if I could help him look for a piece-job for money to buy food. I took a chance by giving him my house keys to clean my yard, and sometimes, I would trap him and leave the money to check if he was not a thief. When I got home, I would find everything the way I left it. He would shout at me and ask why I left the yard and house untidy. He approached me again and said he still needed to talk. As a good listener, I gave him an ear. He said that he wanted to go to rehab, but his family could not afford to take him there."
Segoe said that he once went to rehab, but he only spent two days and went back home as he felt everything was just so hard for him because he kept on craving the drug. Mauwane spoke to his colleague and friend, who didn't want his name to be revealed, about Segoe's matter. The friend agreed to take the risk and assist Segoe.
They would take care of everything, but what they needed from him was determination and honesty. Segoe told his family he was on the road to recovery, and his father was happy. Furthermore, the road to a clean life from drugs started in April 2023. He spent six months at the rehab centre in Phokeng called Victory Christian Centre.
"During the months I spent in the centre, I told myself I would never disappoint Brother Abel and his friend. I was going to leave there as a new and better person who was going to change my community and spread the word to them that there is no life in drugs," said Segoe. His father, Ngape Segoe, said he is grateful for these two men who helped his son after he tried so many times and even went to Zion Christian Church to seek help.
Segoe will not be under his watch as he sees him as a new person. Mauwane said they still have a long way to go with Segoe because he must never go nor take a line where he will meet with his old friend. Segoe asked them if they could give him a job where they are working, and they agreed, but that will be next year as their company closes on December 15.
"I am going to give him a job, and he is a grown-up man now with responsibilities. He must look after his family and Abel. I expect nothing in return," said Mauwane. The Victory Christian Rehab Centre Manager and Priest, Gynet Christiana Maithusi, told Mo Media that their Centre, Non-Profit Organisation would assist Segoe.
"Lesego showed determination from day one, and he regrets what he put himself into. What I loved most about him was that he was willing and determined to change. Every time I spoke to him, he would cooperate. "I am not only the centre manager and priest, but I am also the centre councillor. We have church services and school time, where we teach them many things. We have our garden, and we eat the vegetables from it, ploughed by Lesego.
He told me on the last day when he was about to leave the centre, 'Mama forward is where I am going, backwards never.' Our centre is a winner. No kid leaves here without a testimony," concluded centre manager Maithusi.
