'I had a very dark past. It's sad but I am just glad that I could change my life for the better'
While out of school, the rebellious teenager was fined R2000 for drunk driving. In a separate incident, he was sentenced to 35 hours of community service by a Free State magistrate for crimen injuria, resisting arrest and disturbing the peace.
He was also booted out of a temporary job after assaulting a fellow worker.
But this week, the former drug addict stunned his parents, teachers and schoolmates by bagging five distinctions in the matric exams conducted by the Independent Examinations Board.
More than 8000 matrics from 168 schools across the country wrote the exams in which 97.42% of pupils passed.
Peters, 22, who completed his schooling at Domino Servite in Kranskop, KwaZulu-Natal - a private Christian school based at Kwasizabantu Mission - achieved A symbols in Afrikaans, geography, life orientation, maths, and physical science. He scored Bs in English, life sciences and maths paper three, which is an optional exam subject.
All 24 matric pupils at Domino Servite achieved entry to study for a degree at university.
Peters, who was expelled from his previous school, Welkom Gimnasium in Free State in 2004 after getting into trouble with teachers because of his drug problem, only managed to achieve an average of 18% in all his subjects while he was at that school.
On the advice of a friend, he visited Kwasizabantu Mission in October 2006 to seek help for his drug problem.
Although teachers at Domino Servite expressed fears that Peters could influence other pupils to take drugs, he was admitted to the school in 2007.
But Peters's transformation after kicking the habit was so phenomenal that he was appointed head boy of the school in his matric year.
Peters, whose parents divorced when he was only two months old, blamed his drug addiction on peer pressure.
He admitted stealing money from his mother to buy drugs such as cocaine, mandrax and ecstasy.
"I wanted to be accepted by my friends and I tried to create a certain image for myself. All this led me to do the wrong things."
He spent up to R7000 a month on drugs and alcohol.
"I had a very dark past. It's very sad but I am just glad that I could change my life for the better," he said.
While he was at the mission, he said he had "this great desire in my heart" to complete his schooling.
"It was tough and very difficult but through prayer and the help of the people there it was possible.
"The absolute dedication of teachers at the school had a big effect on my life."
Peters, who spent four hours studying every day, said he planned to complete a four-year teaching degree.
"My parents were always fearful for my safety. They were really worried about my life and about me ever getting anywhere but now they are really very happy," he said.
Peters's father, Cyril, a technical documentation engineer based in Johannesburg, said he never thought that his son would finish matric.
He said that while his son was at Welkom Gimnasium, he had refused to study maths because he did not like the subject.
"Now he scores 90% in maths. I can't tell you how proud I am."
Dorothy Newlands, the school's headmistress, said Peters's achievement was a wonderful and inspirational "second chance" story.
"We were worried about whether he would cope after being out of school for so long."
Newlands said: "I must be honest, we were all very dubious about him coming into the school. We didn't know whether it would generate a drug problem, which we never had."
MaleLeo