EXPRESS READ: I’M BACK ON TRACK, SAYS ANGELO

‘Almost 18 years since my drug journey started, I’m back on track,’ says Angelo Hannival, now a family man who supports many sports people through their challenges | Photo: Ronelle de Villiers

Angelo (38) and his twin brother Mario are the youngest of six Hannival siblings who hail from Cape Town’s Ottery. He attended Fairmount Secondary School in Grassy Park and studied sports management before embarking on a career encompassing various aspects of sport. He’s married to brand co-ordinator Nicole, and they live with their daughter Leah (9) in Cape Town’s Pelican Park. 

I GREW UP in a close-knit family and have very fond childhood memories. Dad died when I was 16 and life was difficult, but Mom nurtured us amazingly. 

Things went pear-shaped at my 16th birthday party. My friends and I had our first taste of alcohol, and by 18 I was drinking excessively. In my second year of studies at the Exercise Teachers’ Academy, I fell into a life of drugs when someone gave me a puff of tik [crystal meth] to ‘help’ me when I was lying down drunk at a party. I was instantly addicted.

On drugs, you feel you’ll conquer the world. It’s a high you want to stay on. A few days later you get withdrawal symptoms and start craving again. You think you’ll stay the same person, but you don’t sleep or eat for days and eventually your body can’t take it anymore. My body lost its muscularity, which never returned.

Angelo (left) today with twin brother Mario. ‘When you are using, you think you’ll stay the same person but eventually your body can’t take it anymore. My body lost its muscularity, which never returned,’ he says

My cycle of using, withdrawal and craving continued for three years. Mom found out and told me I was deeply shaming her. “You pull the skin off my face,” she said, which cut through my body like a knife. I wrote prayers to God that I formulated from a little Bible I had. I think He was prompting me because just before I turned 21, I decided I had to stop using. The cravings were terrible and it was really hard but I prayed for strength, and slept and ate them away.

Walking away from drugs was a turning point, but while I looked ok from the outside, I was a broken, broken young man. I was very thin and felt very unworthy, that people were judging me. Life seemed to have no purpose.

A few months later, I met a generous girl with a contagious smile. Nicole’s trust in me not to use drugs played a huge role in me not going back to them. We dated for almost seven years before getting married in 2013.

Angelo: ‘Nicole trusted me not to use drugs,’ says Angelo. ‘She has been my rock’ | Photo: Ronelle de Villiers

‘I worked as a trainer at Virgin Active, and started gymming with Keegan Davids, a youth pastor. During our chats, he suggested I read John chapter 3 in the Bible, which talks about making a decision to be reborn spiritually. One morning, on my route to work, a truck drove into a lady driving in front of me. I performed CPR on her but tragically she died at the scene. It was so emotional but at the same time I felt the strong presence of Jesus asking me to follow him.

easier and simpler

After work that same day, I met with Keegan and prayed with him to give my life to Jesus. It’s hard to describe, but my heart was filled with a fire that didn’t go away. I believe this was the Holy Spirit. Soon after, my brother Mario invited Nicole and me on an Alpha course at a local church, the best 10 weeks of my life! It felt like a new introduction to God that made my life so much easier and simpler. Nicole was similarly impacted and started following Jesus a few weeks later.

In December 2024, I was appointed sports chaplain to Stellenbosch Football Club.  I provide support to everyone, from players to cleaning staff. Even successful athletes can have big pressure, with people depending on them financially and emotionally. It’s key in my work to love people authentically and wait to be invited in. People want you to listen, not tell them what to do. They want to know you care even if they do drugs or join a gang.

‘People want you to listen, not tell them what to do,’ says Angelo, now sports chaplain at Stellenbosch Football Club which plays in South Africa’s professional leagues | Photo: Nicky Elliott

I’ve also just become National Coordinator for Sports Chaplaincy in South Africa, supporting all kinds of sports clubs, sports leaders and 47 sports chaplains around South Africa. Almost 18 years since my drug journey started, I’m back on track and so grateful to be really optimistic about my future. I’ve been married 11 years, own my home and have a beautiful daughter.

There’s always temptation around. I advise anyone wanting to stop substance abuse to change their friendship circles. Sometimes I struggle with focus, which I’m sure is a hangover from drugs, but I love a God who accepts me just as I am. I believe He let me have my own way with drugs so that I can do what I’m doing today. I encourage people to seek the strength of Jesus. So often, we try to depend only on ourselves. It doesn’t always get us very far.’