Junaid Hartley has spent most of his life attracting headlines for his football abilities and then later for drug addiction that he has now finally put in the past following his most recent rehabilitation.
Hartley charmed the football world as a teenager when he broke through at Wits University before moving to Europe after earning caps for Amajita.
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It was all glorious as he played in Portugal and France before returning to do duty for Orlando Pirates, Moroka Swallows, Ajax Cape Town, and Maritzburg United amongst other clubs before a stint in Malaysia all before he was 30.
Through most of the last 15 years, it has been a case of substance abuse, rehabilitation, and relapsing for Hartley.
KickOff sat down with the now-45-year-old at Panorama Sports Club in Radiokop on Tuesday during a friendly match between Casric Stars and Angolan club InterClube.
Hartley has now spent six months clean after spending 16 months at a rehabilitation centre in Pretoria.
"I have been in short term programs before that all didn't work and my family had to get a court order to send me away for that period of time," Hartley tells KickOff.
"I didn't realise the mental state that I was in and that I was in trouble.
"The short-term facilities all didn't work previously and being in danger I had to be put into a long-term facility which I didn't want.
"I was in that facility for one year and four months and came out six months.
"When you go into rehab you think substance abuse is the most difficult part to get over in your recovery but getting back to society is what is bigger than abstaining and getting over the addiction.
"How are you going to sustain yourself now that you are back to being normal?
"The last time I was normal my life was good and that was maybe some 14 or so years ago and for over 10 years I was in addiction.
"There were times when I asked for R5 at the shops to support the addiction.
"Luckily, I had a roof to sleep but when I was 'high' my father never used to allow me in the house there in Fleurhof.
"There were plenty of nights I slept on the streets.
"I was someone who bought a car at 15 and lived in Sandton at 21, in an R2 million house.
"But everything was gone before I opened my eyes when I started the substance addiction and gambling.
"There was a stage in my life when I had three BMWs, a X3, 530d, and an X5 and to lose all of that wasn't easy.
"I'm grateful that I came out of all this alive because a lot of the times I was in danger of losing my life.
"There were many times when it was thought that there was no recovery from the mental damage that all of this has caused.
"Only now after the one last attempt did I come out this way.
"This was the one last attempt to save me.
"If anybody has doubts or suspicion that their loved ones are using please go to all extremes to get it sorted out as soon as possible.
"I went into rehab a week after my dad died.
"It is such a pity that this has only happened now after some of my loved ones are gone.
"It would have been the best feeling to appreciate them now while they are still alive and not be making this recovery a bit too late.
"You want to sort your life while they are all there to see it and witness the miracle," says Hartley.
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