Bonga Sithole checked himself out of rehab a week after South Africans celebrated what everyone believed was the start of his road to sobriety.
Why did Bonga Sithole check himself out of rehab?
The story of Sithole has been a wonder to follow over the past several months since the homeless vagrant was first discovered by the woman to whom he may be eternally indebted, Sisanda Qwabe-Coutaud.
Last week, every South African with a vested interest in Sithole’s road to recovery rejoiced when he surfaced in a video appearing jubilant and seemingly ready to face the challenges of a two-month stay at a rehabilitation centre in Gauteng.
However, according to Qwabe-Coutaud, who could barely contain her emotions during a Live feed from Indonesia in the wee hours of Sunday, 4 December 2022, not only did Sithole’s attempt at a second go at life fail epically when he checked himself out of rehab after less than a week, but it seems the well-versed vagrant fell, along with a bright alternative future, off the face of the Earth.
“Bonga [Sithole] discharged himself from the rehab, citing he has to follow his spiritual calling,” Qwabe-Coutaud said.
Qwabe-Coutaud further added that Sithole may have been influenced into making the rash decision by an unknown man he met at the rehab centre.
“…and of course, he was going with another patient, [an] alleged white guy. They, together, believe they need to follow their spiritual journey. So, he did not communicate with me about his decision. I’m just hoping it’s for the best,” a deeply hurt Qwabe-Coutaud muttered.
Sithole’s helper revealed that if he had stuck through the two-month programme, he would have checked out in January 2023 with two decent-paying jobs lined up for him, a great fortune that, on a daily basis, evades 32% of South Africa’s unemployed adult population.
With Sithole’s whereabouts unknown at the time this article was published, social media has — as it’s the norm — used the deeply disturbing developments in the vagrant’s life as prime opportunities for viral memes.
Here are some of the reactions we picked out:
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