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Johannesburg - It's been a difficult life for gospel star Andile kaMajola but he's overcome it all, including poverty and abuse, to shine bright!
Talking to Drum, Andile opened up about his upbringing. He reveals that when he was young his parents disappeared, leaving him and his four siblings in the care of his Gogo, who did not even get a pension.
Working small jobs in gardens and selling mangoes and beans, Andile says one day he was bitten by a dog and used the R50 he was given for treatment to buy food for his family.
But none of these struggles have compared to the dark days of abuse he sometimes had to face.
Andile reveals that from the age of 10 to 15 he was repeatedly molested by a neighbour.
"This guy bought food for gogo and me. But there were inappropriate things he did to me, which I discovered later was molestation," he says.
"He made me touch his private parts. Sometimes I would wake up with my pants wet, not knowing what happened. He did bad things to me," he adds.
Andile was traumatised by the experience and even tried to run away. In one particular instance he took what little clothes he had and ran as far as he could. He only got as far as a nearby sugarcane field, where he stayed the night and was found the next day by a search party.
But Andile says he is a man of God and has forgiven the man who caused him so much pain.
