Uthanda Bani: Drugs have destroyed Skoni's life

The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. However, when someone doesn’t realise that they have an issue it becomes difficult to assist them. Thembi knows this too well as she’s had several failed interventions for her friend, Skoni, who’s dealing with a substance addiction. 

She wrote to Uthanda Bani in an attempt to get through to him. According to Thembi, the problem started a few years ago when Skoni’s behaviour suddenly changed. “People would tell me that your friend is busy dabbling in some substances. I tried talking to him, but he denies it,” she said. 

Staged kidnapping

Thembi explained: “I think, along with other people, Skoni has a substance abuse problem.” His addiction has landed him in a lot of tricky situations including faking his own kidnapping. “So, that’s when I realised that I needed to do something about it,” Thembi told Basani. 

Thembi feels the need to help Skoni because he helped her raise her children and has played an important role in her life. She shared that she can’t just abandon him at this time. “It [the addiction] has destroyed him because God had provided him with a job… He was stable and the only thing that was left was for him to bloom as a dancer also on the side.” 

When presented with an opportunity to confront him, Thembi told him: “You’re taking drugs. That’s why I called for help, because I didn’t know how I was going to approach it on my own.” However, Skoni doesn’t see Thembi’s efforts as help. Instead, he feels judged by her although he was high on substances during the intervention. 

Skoni admits he has a problem 

“I do smoke,” he said. 

When asked about what he smokes, he revealed: “Crystal meth and heroin.” Skoni started smoking 11 years ago. “It was supposed to be for a short period of time until I lost everything and being able to manage myself, lose my job, lose my life amongst other things.” He’s also hurt the people in his life, including Thembi. He told Basani: “She’s the one who supports me, but I always come up with plans to swindle money from her.” 

So, is Skoni ready to clean up his act? It looks like he’s also tired of his actions and chooses his family over the addiction. “Obviously, the family are the people that are trying to help me out and to stop taking drugs. And addiction is not a nice thing…. I love my family.” He said he’d be happy to get help as he’s now ready to face the problem. 

You can keep up with Basani and the Uthanda Bani team on Showmax. All the episodes of Uthanda Bani are available to binge-watch on Showmax.

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