Dicing with death
In this excerpt from his biography Delron Buckley: My Life, former Bafana Bafana midfielder Delron Buckley describes how his life nearly ended at a Durban nightclub
MY CHANCE to play senior soccer at such a young age came about because some of my granddad’s players would not turn up or turn up drunk from the previous night’s revelling.
In common South African language they were babalaas, which means a hangover from drinking too much alcohol. Sometimes my granddad used to start matches with the guys that were babalaas but they wouldn’t last the full 90 minutes and I would come into the game for the last 10-20 minutes.
As a young teenager I had my first experience with alcohol which was easily available. Luckily I didn’t allow myself to get addicted to it, as I was focused on progressing with my soccer career.
I knew all too well and had seen the harmful effects that alcohol had on people around me. These were talented players who never progressed in soccer because of their alcohol addiction which led to a whole lot of complications for them.
Some of them even got into trouble with the law, having domestic issues and in extreme cases, also developing health problems that were associated with excessive alcohol intake.
Having seen this ugly side that alcohol had created in and around my community, I made a commitment that I was not going to fall into this trap. Sadly, alcohol was also responsible for the breaking up of many homes.
Where I grew up, it was the norm to associate playing soccer with getting drunk afterwards – with nothing good ever coming out of this mix! I wanted to change this as one could still play soccer and make the choice to not allow alcohol to ruin your future!
Drug addiction was also another vice that was rife in my community. It was responsible for destroying the lives of many people that I knew of in Sydenham.
Like alcohol, drugs were also freely available and I did try it, something that I am not proud of ! I want to be as honest as I can and don’t want to come across as a saint.
In sharing this, it is my intention to help someone avoid these pitfalls in life. I tried it because of the peer pressure. But trust me, you are better off saying no!
The other reason I can share this now is because my grandpa has passed away, so I can do so without the fear of a belt spanking.
Thankfully, just as I did with alcohol I made the decision to also stay away from drugs. It was going to only crush my dreams rather than help me achieve them. And due to drug addiction, I had seen many people killed and scarred for life. Drugs were a definite no for me! As with alcohol, I had seen many get so hooked onto it that it ruined their lives, physically and mentally.
Now that I am back in South Africa, when I drive through Sydenham to visit my family, I see some of my old friends who had so much skill and were also promising at academics at school. However, due to their drug and alcohol addiction they threw their lives away and now they just hang around the streets.
To fuel their drug addiction, some resorted to crime, getting into trouble with the police and ended up in prison. I don’t look down upon them or avoid them because I know that it could have been me on the streets, had it not been for the choices I made to stay drug-free and not get drunk with alcohol.
I know for a fact that if I had not broken free from the drugs and alcohol culture around me, I would not have achieved all that I have. I could have also succumbed to be a fatal statistic of this scourge on our community! For that I am grateful to the discipline from my family, especially my granddad, who was able to keep me on the straight and narrow.
I also thank my uncles who got me involved in soccer. My advice is to respect your body and not put anything into it that will cause it harm. When you take drugs and overindulge in alcohol you are literally killing yourself, so why do it? Think of the bright future that you could be destroying!
Another culture that was rife and equally destructive was the gang culture. Sadly, young men, in order to satisfy their need for belonging, fell victim to this and ended up paying with their lives.
After my first season of playing for Bochum U-19s, I returned to South Africa in December 1995 for a holiday. I came close to not making the return trip to Germany! I could have lost my life in South Africa; yes it’s the 100% truth. Let me explain.
In Durban, I had gone out with my friends to the mati- nee at a local nightclub, and was unaware that a Sydenham gang leader had stabbed a rival gang leader from another suburb. Because of this, their gang was out to get anyone from Sydenham. Innocently and unbeknown to me, they had spotted us inside the night club. They were waiting outside to attack!
I had to leave early in order to attend a function, so I left my friends inside the night- club. Coming out of the club, I was confronted and chased by them. “There’s he,” they shouted and brandished baseball bats and knives. I knew they certainly did not want to have a game of baseball with me – more like bash me up with the bat! So I started running for my life! Thank God he made me fast as I sprinted all the way home, a good 5-kilometre journey. I think I had a little help from adrenalin that day to keep me going! It was the first time I had experienced anything like this, with guys shouting, “Stab him, stab him!” When I got home I didn’t tell anyone what had happened, as I was too shocked. I found out a few hours later from my cousins that it was not safe to go to the city.
Thanks guys for the advance notice, which was a bit too late. Phew! Was this my welcome back to South Africa? I still had another three more weeks left of my holiday. I was certainly not going back into the city. It was safer for me to hang around in Sydenham with my family and friends – which was what I enjoyed doing, rather than risking my life.