Singer Mthandazo Gatya is in seventh heaven after he finally decided to ditch alcohol which he had a problem with for the past 14 years. He?s determined to make sure that he stays on the straight and narrow. Being in an industry that is notorious for alcohol, it was a difficult decision for him to take.

STRUGGLING FROM A YOUNG AGE

When he was a young boy, there was a tavern at his family home and because he was exposed to it, he started drinking. "I started drinking when I was very young. At home, there was a tavern, so I would steal alcohol and that was the beginning of the struggle with the bottle," he told Zimoja.

While his alcohol addiction was deepening, his parents were oblivious to his problem, because he hid it well. "I started going out on Friday and coming back home on Sunday. I was never seen drunk at home or on the streets. I managed to keep it from my family until I was little older," he said. "I saw the destruction it caused to people around me".

FAMILY LOSES EVERYTHING TO ALCOHOL ADDICTION

One of the the things that inspired him to quit drinking was the fact that his family members were also addicts, who lost everything because of alcohol consumption. " I saw how alcohol destroyed my family, they lost everything and because of that I decided to leave everything," he explained. 

His advice for people wanting to quit is that they must figure out why they're drinking. "You must ask yourself why you're drinking- is it to run away from your problems or for fun, because then you can decide how far you want to drink," he advised.