Cruising for a bruising
Berg farmers go to war with Tom’s church
The Church of Scientology — a religious body that is loved or hated with equal passion — plans to open a “Hollywood-style” drug rehabilitation centre in a pristine conservation area near Rustenburg.
At R175 000 for a three-month stay, the exclusive facility will be able to accommodate 43 clients at a time — and the unspoilt environment with wildlife roaming free should, the church says, help the recovery process.
But a group of neighbouring farmers has vowed to fight the development, claiming it will destroy the pristine area and that the organisation’s controversial substance abuse programme, Narconon, only “pays lip service to rehabilitation issues”.
Gerry Comninos, an executive-committee member of the Magaliesberg Landowners Forum, said: “Its exaggerated claims of success are not and have never been verified. Narconon is merely a money-making business in the guise of a social upliftment programme. There is no reason why an exclusive, cult-type Scientology centre needs to be at this location.”
The forum cites water shortages and other ecological issues as reasons to block the development, but has also complained that substances in patients’ urine and other waste could contaminate the soil and that the buildings will cause light pollution.
But the church’s local public affairs director, Gaetane Asselin, said: “You have to be blind not to see how we will benefit the area. They will soon discover that we are on the same side and we too want a better Rustenburg and a better society.
“For all the years Narconon has been successfully working against drugs and saving lives . . . we have found over and over that people who attack us are plainly hateful and discriminatory.”
Actress Leah Remini, a former Scientologist and star of the hit TV comedy King of
Queens, is one of the organisation’s fiercest critics, while action stars Tom Cruise and John Travolta are committed members of the church.
The Association for Better Living and Education — a nonprofit organisation established by the Church of Scientology — bought the 210ha farm about 35km from Rustenburg in 2013 for R10-million and has spent a further R14-million on the project so far, including building several chalets. The facility, if it eventually operates, will be open to all drug addicts.
The farm is in the Magaliesberg Biosphere Reserve, which was proclaimed a reserve by the Unesco in June 2015.
The Narconon programme has been fiercely criticised internationally because, unlike other drug rehab programmes, it does not offer addicts any medication to wean them off their cravings.
The programme was first tried in state prisons in Arizona in the US in the 1960s, according to the Association for Better Living and Education.
Addicts “become free from persistent drug cravings through exercise, nutrition and sweating in dry, low-heat saunas with plenty of water and replacement minerals”.
The association is trying to persuade the North West department of rural, environment and agricultural development to rezone the property from “agricultural” to “agricultural with an institution”. Two applications have been rejected so far.
Comninos said the centre’s expected water usage of 20 000m³ per day was unsustainable. “They said they require plenty of water and there is no sustainable water in the area for this type of use,” he said.
Game farmer Thomas Schlotfeldt, who is chairman of Magaliesberg Landowners Forum, said the farm’s previous owner had built a lodge on top of a hill and that the light from it “unfortunately travels far at night”.
“There’s already the light factor that destroys the bushveld atmosphere at night.”
Schlotfeldt said the group was committed to conservation and passionate about protecting the area.
Peter Roberts, a third-generation farmer, said there was barely enough water for members of his household on his farm. “This is an absolutely unique area. Some of us who are fortunate enough to be custodians will fight to protect this.”
Theunis van der Berg, a farm manager, said: “People want to come here to see the mountains, valleys and streams; they don’t want to come here to see a drug rehab centre.”
Asselin said the church had hired two professional companies, including one specifically requested by the farmers, to study the water issue.
“Both concluded that with our 18 boreholes, we will have plenty of water for ourselves without affecting our neighbours or the area. We will not even have to use all the boreholes.
“Our land, like the land of our neighbours, can’t be seen from the road. Our buildings are 1.8km away and can’t be seen.”