Remedial centre faces closure
DURBAN’S oldest gym, Saint Giles Therapy Centre, which provides free services to stroke patients, is struggling to keep its doors open.
Patrons and staff together with management at St Giles building in Prince Street are working without salaries, just to help patients. The South Beach facility has run out of funds and since the outbreak of the coronavirus last year the situation has worsened.
The non-profit organisation’s gym facility has been named Sukuma Therapy Centre and is run by three staff members.
Sunday Tribune spoke to a number of patients and training staff who were concerned about the future of the gym.
Sne Ndlovu from Umlazi said if the gym closed down, many patients who were on the road to recovery would suffer. Ndlovu, 28, a former doctor at a Free State public hospital, said she broke her neck bone and spinal cord when she fell from a balcony three years ago.
“When I joined the remedial centre, I could not move my limbs. To stand and sit was impossible. Every inch of my body was in pain, but after therapy I started walking again,” she said.
Another stroke patient Velaphi Ngema, 41, said he could not walk or talk after he was involved in a car accident that landed him in a coma for three days. “Therapy has been helpful. I can drive myself home. I use a walking aid to go into shops and buy my groceries,” said Ngema.
Abbas Mohamed’s mother Zanil, from Sydenham said her 40-year-old son had been wheelchair-bound since he suffered a stroke. “We were devastated when the gym closed because we could not afford expensive medical treatment offered at other private institutions,” she said.
The gym closed temporarily in September and reopened in February.
Trainer Thanda Qwayithana said even though workers were not receiving salaries, they were passionate about their jobs and enjoyed working with their patients. Another trainer, Sam Ndebele said he has witnessed miracles, with some patients who were
wheelchair-bound now able to walk.
Ndebele, who joined the facility about 20 years ago, said he cried at the prospects of the gym closing. He said they had come back from the Covid break in June when the board announced the closing of the remedial centre due to a lack of funds.
“We were asked to come up with ideas to save the sinking ship. The board allowed us to run the gym for the sake of our members, whom we felt so indebted to. Despite this being a free gym, we then approached patients to make a minimum payment of R500 a month. But the money could only be used for buying detergents and sanitisers. It cannot even replace a cover seat on a bicycle machine,” said Ndebele. The gym sees at least 26 patients. St Giles acting manager David Stone said the Covid pandemic had put a strain on the NGO’S operation.
He said they were knocking on several doors to get funding so that the centre could remain open.