"Please help me, I need to go to a rehab before it's too late." These are the words of the late actor Patrick Shai's son Sechaba. Sechaba (42) now lives on the streets claims that his father's death is the reason he is back on drugs.

SURVIVING ON PUSHING TROLLEYS FOR SHOPPERS

Sechaba who is surviving by pushing trolleys for shoppers at a supermarket at Meadowlands Mall in Soweto, was clean for two years before he relapsed in July 2023. Well-placed source which met up with Sechaba this week told ZiMoja that the eldest son of the legendary actor claimed that he was kicked out of his family home in Dobsonville by his mother Mmasechaba Shai. "I was hurt when I saw him in that state. This guy used to look so good and looked like Bob Mabena and he is very intelligent. Now he looks like a hobo because of the drugs, it's really said" the source said. According to the source, Sechaba manages to buy food and drugs with the money he makes from pushing trolleys for shoppers.

HIS FATHER'S DEATH PUSHED HIM BACK TO DRUGS

The source further said that Sechaba claimed that another reason that led to him to relapse and start taking nyaope and crystal meth was the death of his father. Shai died from an apparent suicide at his home in Dobsonville in January 2022 at the age of 65. At the time, Sechaba was clean for over a year and said in a media interview that his father's death motivated him to stay clean. "His greatest wish was for me to be a proper family man irrespective of whatever field I got into,' he said at the time. The source said Sechaba was the one who found his father hanging in their family garage when the legendary actor ended his life two years ago. "He said he never received any counseling from that ordeal and that his father still visits him in his sleep. He said he sees him every day when he goes to sleep and that is the reason he did not fight when his mother kicked him out of the house. He just wanted to stay away from the house hoping the nightmares will end,"

PLEADING FOR HELP

Speaking to ZiMoja, Sechaba said he did not have much to say but pleaded for help to go to rehab and change his life. "I want to be clean and go back to go back to being part of Kwanele Foundation where I was heading the office of KwaneleNziswa educating others on issues of drugs and substance abuse. Please help me before it's too late." he said. Mmasechaba Shai could not be reached for a comment as her phone rang unanswered.