Bid to close down illegal rehab centres

THE provincial Department of Social Development has approached the Western Cape High Court to seek orders for the closure of a number of illegal rehab centres.

Department spokesperson Esther Lewis said they continued to receive complaints about illegal rehabilitation centres exploiting clients and in some cases, violating their human rights.

“During the past year, as part of a systematic approach to address the illegal provision of services, the department reached out to 66 unregistered treatment programmes,” Lewis said.

“In spite of interventions by the department to assist various unregistered facilities in becoming compliant, some of these organisations have not taken the necessary steps to become registered, and the department has therefore approached the Western Cape High Court to seek orders for their closure,” she said.

In order to become registered, rehabilitation centres must have health, safety and zoning clearances from the relevant local municipality and a qualified multidisciplinary team of professionals made up of social workers, nurses, psychologists and related professions.

They must follow a bio-psychosocial approach which means the health, mental, and social dimensions of the client are addressed in the treatment plans.

“Where appropriate, the department engages unregistered facilities to assist them to become complaint. This includes guiding the organisation through the requirements for the premises, staffing, and treatment programmes, and providing them with all of the necessary registration forms,” Lewis said.

The department currently subsidises 28 community-based treatment centres, as well as six of the 27 registered inpatient rehabilitation centres in the province.

Tafelsig activist Joanie Fredericks said the aim of many illegal rehabilitation centres was to make money.

“Illegal rehabilitation centres must be closed because as somebody who works on a daily basis with the people ... I have seen how these illegal rehabilitation programmes can be damaging. People who are addicted to substances (become) worse. Any person who wants to run such an institution should be legal,” said Fredericks.

A list of registered treatment facilities can be found at: https://www. westerncape.gov.za/assets/departments/social-development/sud_directory_august_2022.pdf