MZANSI-BORN musician who is now based in London, Latoya "Toya Delazy" Buthelezi, is celebrating a year of soberness.
The 33-year-old musician, who is the grandchild of the late Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, said she started boozing at the age of 17.
On Monday, 23 October, Toya shared her one-year milestone on Facebook.
She said her difficult transition of stopping alcohol started in 2022 when she found a community which supported her and she had to call a counsellor every day for a month.
Toya, who is also celebrating eight years staying in London, said she started drinking alcohol relatively later than most.
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The Funani hitmaker said when she eventually broke into the South African music scene, that's where she really dove into booze.
“It was free, and the entire industry thrived on alcohol consumption. It felt like the higher the price, the cooler you were. I’m talking about radio ads, music videos, clubbing, gigs, every single link up involved alcohol, and I fell hard for it.
“For a moment I forgot about all my problems, that I felt isolated, alone, misunderstood by those I loved the most. After a while, there was no space left to hide these very intense emotions,” said Toya.
She said each time she drank, everything would escalate very quickly and there would come a time where she'd leave her body and the spirit of pain would consume her and she'd become very sad, angry, and eventually suicidal.
“In 2022 I found a community which supported me and a counsellor I had to call every day for a month. It was a difficult transition as all the emotions that had been swept under the rug stood in a towering heap and I had to deal with it sober. 1-3 I felt like I was gonna go nuts. All the holidays without liquor, the clubs, the festivals the questions ‘but why?’,” she said.
