{"id":299509,"date":"2025-12-12T15:54:59","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T13:54:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/?p=299509"},"modified":"2026-05-26T10:08:05","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T08:08:05","slug":"mayor-of-mitchells-plain-recounts-journey-from-addiction-to-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/mayor-of-mitchells-plain-recounts-journey-from-addiction-to-hope\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Mayor of Mitchells Plain’ recounts journey from addiction to hope"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

CAPE TOWN<\/strong> – Marvin Sampson may be the unofficial mayor of Mitchells Plain but he didn\u2019t always have it all together. Recently, Sampson (51), celebrated his 16th year of recovery from addiction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve gone from a boy from Beacon Valley, skarreling <\/em>in the town centre, to the office of the mayor. Nothing is impossible for God,\u201d Sampson said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Things came full circle for Sampson recently when he was the guest speaker at the same rehab where he first found recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Marvin
Marvin Sampson with his wife and sons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI’m so proud of wanting to tell my story wherever I can,\u201d Sampson said. \u201cThis last Sunday, I went to Toevlug because I was at Toevlug in 2009.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He recounts how he reached recovery only after his wife wanted to divorce him. By then he had lost multiple jobs and his dignity, and he had sold everything in his home. His wife was no longer giving him meals and he was begging for \u201ckayangs\u201d in the town centre. He had tried to take his own life three times because he could not see a way out of his addiction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it wasn\u2019t until his wife filed for divorce that he made a change, he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought to myself, \u2018am I going to choose the addiction, or am I going to choose my family? I decided I’m going to stop using drugs and I started looking for a rehab.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roots of addiction<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Sampson said the roots of his addiction started in his childhood. His parents were both alcoholics and his father abused his mother physically, emotionally, financially and sexually. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would sometimes hear my mother cry in the room and, being the eldest of five brothers, I would open the door. And I would see him sexually abusing my mother,\u201d Sampson recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ALSO READ: <\/strong>Proportional councillor went from rock bottom to role model<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dysfunction led to his first suicide attempt at the age of 14. He woke up in hospital, after he had overdosed on medication, and social workers were called in to help, but nothing changed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat episode passed and you know life just continued as normal as if I was just naughty,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Downward spiral<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Sampson grew up, got married and started a family, but his descent into addiction was gradual, starting with using cigarettes, weed and alcohol socially but at the height of his addiction he was using four different drugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His wife, however, was oblivious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd then one day, 10 years later, a friend of mine, a drinking buddy, said; \u2018brother, you need to stop. Can\u2019t you see what this stuff is doing to you?\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sampson ignored him, but the friend told his wife about his addiction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy wife never knew I was using drugs because she was in control of the finances. She had my bank card, so there was no suspicion because there was no money missing,\u201d he said, adding that he had been stealing at work to support his addiction and this eventually led to him losing his job. That was when he started stealing from home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ALSO READ: <\/strong>Comrades runner set to publish book on journey to recovery from addiction<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy wife would buy Christmas clothes for the children and I would take their clothes, with the shoes, and I would sell it. I took the TV, I took the microwave, I took the DVD surround sound system. She would buy me clothes and I would take the clothes and sell them for drugs. I even sold the washing machine. I took the aluminum pots from the cupboard, and I would make it flat and take it to the scrapyard, just to get my hands on drugs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI even sold the furniture. The last thing I took was the fridge. When my wife went to work, I remember, there was nothing left to steal anymore, so I took the fridge. I put it in a Shoprite trolley and I sold it for R60, just to get my hands on drugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn’t care about my children, their well-being. I didn’t care about my wife. It was all about me and my addiction. I became the father I hated because I started abusing my wife. I started abusing my children. Not physically, but emotionally.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sampson said that his wife became so fed-up that she stopped giving him meals and sharing the same bed with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat sober woman wants to share her bed with a drug addict who doesn\u2019t wash, who doesn\u2019t brush teeth and who looks like a bergie <\/em>but at the time, in my mind, I thought she was having an affair,\u201d Sampson recounts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut one thing I deeply respect about my wife, even though she was hateful towards me, even though she wanted to divorce me, she always told the boys, \u2018it doesn\u2019t matter what your father does, he is still your father\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recovery<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It was only when his wife reached the point of considering divorce when Sampson hit rock bottom and considered recovery. Now, 16 years later, he maintains his sobriety through faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, he also turned his attention to politics, first as a PR councillor for the Patriotic Alliance in city council and later he accepted a post in the mayor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe joke in the office is that Geordin Hill-Lewis is the mayor of the city and Marvin is the mayor of Mitchells Plain. Even he’s aware of the joke,\u201d Marvin said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He now wants to use this knowledge of the inner workings of council to uplift others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI really want to bring about change. I want to change people’s lives positively, and I want to help,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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