Show a little heart, Mzansi - there’s still hope for Bonga Sithole

I get the feeling that the compassion initially shown by many for Bonga Sithole all but evaporated as he stumbled on his way to overcoming addiction, and that’s indicative of a society that shows little empathy for the disease.

And yes, it’s a disease - but more on that later.

Known as South Africa’s “most articulate homeless man” for his viral videos and incredible vocabulary, Sithole quickly rose to fame. As his battle with addiction became known he was given the opportunity to check into a rehabilitation facility, but unfortunately for him he was unable to climb that mountain just yet.

That’s the thing though, Sithole was offered help but ultimately he wasn’t ready to fully make use of it. People who haven’t experienced addiction or seen anyone they care about struggle with this affliction may not fully understand the many challenges of this vicious disease.

Someone struggling with addiction needs to hit rock bottom, and crucially, want to get better before they can. Being forced into rehab or having an intervention seldom works, and usually has the opposite effect as that person will be determined to rebel and not want to do what “everyone else” wants.

Now that Sithole failed at his first attempt at rehab and is back on the streets, some have even said nobody should give him money. This is typical of the lack of empathy addicts are shown. How many times have you heard someone say of a homeless person: “Don’t give them money, they’ll just use it to buy drugs”?

Addicts are almost universally seen as “less than” and condemned for choosing addiction. This is both heartless and wrong.

Addiction is not a choice, it’s a mental illness.

Any light research into addiction will tell you this, and many will experience this. I have three close friends who battle addiction. I’ve seen this first hand; I didn’t need to Google it. One of those friends succumbed to the disease when I was still in my teens, which ended in him committing suicide after a number of spells in rehab.

When it comes to addiction, it’s like we’re still in the dark ages

The other two had their struggles later in my life, and they both had kept it hidden from me for years. I witnessed them both in the darkest places, and slowly put their lives back together. I still don’t know how they did it, and admire the strength it took to get clean. There were of course relapses and incredibly difficult times that I wouldn’t wish on anyone, but somehow they made it. And for that I will forever be proud.

It’s from this place that I’m in a good position to see just how poorly anyone who struggles with addiction is routinely treated in society - and often most ruthlessly, and lacking in empathy, on social media.

Even embattled Springbok rugby player Elton Jantjies who was rumoured to have gone to a drug rehab facility showed what disregard he had for addicts when he said: “I also noted that I was portrayed to be a drug addict with mental health issues. I can proudly say I have no mental health issues, and I was never in a rehab centre for drug addiction.”

Come again Elton? Drug addicts with mental health issues should feel shame? Thanks for that, oh shining knight of valour.

As a society we’ve come a long way in how we treat people different from ourselves when it comes to race, gender, religion and sexual orientation. Of course there’s still plenty work to be done, but when it comes to addiction it seems like we’re still in the dark ages.

* The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.

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