Councillor helps beggar to kick bottle
Zandile Bokwana
A RECOVERING alcoholic who has not touched a drop of alcohol in 10 months is turning his life around after battling with his addiction for years. "We need to acknowledge that alcohol is a very serious problem and is highly addictive," Ronald Shaw, a qualified butcher and former beggar in Rink Street, Central, said.
Shaw, 43, was given another chance in life when ward 5 councillor Jeremy Davis and his wife, Marilyn, a music teacher at Collegiate High School, took him for help at Sanca, booked him into Shepherd's Field Kibbutz rehab in St Albans and paid for his first month at the rehabilitation centre.
And thanks to many other people and companies, he was able to stay there for three months in total.
"I saw this young man who was throwing his life away. He was in a bad state and it worried me to see someone who is my firstborn's age, give up on life," Davis said.
Since it was the month of Mandela Day, Jeremy offered his help and asked Shaw if he wanted to start a new life.
"I come from a family of alcoholics," Shaw explained. My parents were alcoholics and my siblings were alcoholics and addicts. I know how dangerous alcohol is and how it can destroy a family.
"Before Davis and his wife found and helped me, my body used to depend on alcohol. I would not function properly without drinking."
Shaw said he previously worked in a butchery and in a mine, but lost his jobs because of his drinking problem.
Shaw, originally from Johannesburg, has lived on the streets of the Free State and Cape Town before coming here.
Shaw is now living at Vistarus Mission Station in Sydenham.
He said he is grateful to the councillor, his wife, and Dr Wildrie du Plessis, the dentist who is fixing his teeth, as well as everyone at Vistarus for giving him a chance to be a new man.
He added that parents must discuss the dangers of alcohol and drugs with their children.
"I want to work again and continue to stay at Vistarus. I'm scared that if I leave this place, I can be tempted into drinking again," he said.
According to Shaw, every day is a fight and recovery is a process. "Praying and reading the Bible also help me to confront the urge of drinking."
Davis described Shaw as a strong man. He added that he is in the process of finding a job.
"I have sent his CV to Checkers and took him for an interview there, as a butcher. I truly hope he gets it."