The Eastern Cape social development department has launched legal action against eight unregistered rehabilitation facilities in Buffalo City and Mthatha.
This as it intensifies efforts to shut down centres accused of operating illegally and exposing vulnerable patients to abuse and human rights violations.
The move follows years of warnings to several facilities that continued operating despite failing to meet the requirements of the Prevention of and Treatment for Substance Abuse Act.
Department spokesperson Mphumzi Zuzile confirmed on Sunday that court action was now being pursued against eight of 10 facilities identified by the department as noncompliant.
Five of the facilities are in the Mthatha area and three are in Buffalo City Metro.
“We have filed against eight, two of [the five in and around Mthatha] are working with the department to get proper registration,” Zuzile said.
He said the reason they were going to court despite working with the organisations was to ensure compliance.
“Some of them, we have been telling them to stop, but they keep saying we are working with them,” Zuzile said.
“We see it as a stalling tactic ... we are not going to stop the process of taking them to court to enforce them to close if they are not compliant.”
The action comes days after the arrest of the owner of the controversial Khulalani Abantu Bam rehabilitation centre near Butterworth and six of his employees on charges of attempted murder and kidnapping.
Police allege that a 26-year-old patient escaped from the facility in May before being forcibly returned and assaulted.
The criminal case was opened after a relative visited the patient, discovered his injuries and reported the matter to police.
The arrests thrust the facility back into the spotlight nearly a decade after allegations of abuse and inhumane conditions first surfaced.
It is among the facilities now facing possible closure through court action.
The crackdown comes amid growing concern over allegations of assault, chaining of patients, kidnapping and other forms of abuse at some centres.
Social development MEC Bukiwe Fanta said the department was deeply concerned about the growing number of unregulated treatment facilities operating across the province.
“The rise of these illegal centres undermines our collective efforts to combat substance abuse and protect our communities,” Fanta said.
“Many of these establishments operate without the necessary registration and compliance with the Prevention of and Treatment for Substance Abuse Act.
“This lack of oversight endangers the well-being of vulnerable individuals who are often desperate for support and guidance.”
According to departmental records, officials became aware of many of the facilities between 2022 and 2024.
Noncompliance notices were subsequently issued by the head of the department directing them to cease operating.
When several facilities continued operating despite the notices, the department instructed the state attorney to seek court orders compelling their closure.
The department funds only three registered private treatment centres — Koinonia and Sanca Central in KuGompo City and the Thembelitsha Rehabilitation Centre in Mthatha.
Critics of the department’s approach say that closing facilities without providing alternatives could worsen an already critical situation.
Anti-crime activist Ludumo Salman said many communities had come to rely on informal rehabilitation centres.
“The government has been in deep sleep when communities were crying for help to salvage children from drug dependence,” Salman said.
“We have found ourselves relying on these informal rehab centres for help.”
Human rights activist Petros Majola said the province faced a challenge of widespread substance abuse and too few treatment facilities.
However, he said allegations of abuse could not be ignored.
In May last year the Dispatch reported on two women alleging they were assaulted and treated like slaves at Mangwanya’s Wellness Centre in Mdantsane. At the time centre owner Nomvume Noqobo denied both women’s accusations when asked about them by the Dispatch, however she was unclear when answering about what recovery programmes were followed by the centre.
The department’s report also identifies the St John’s Rehabilitation Centre in Reeston and several facilities in Mthatha among those that allegedly failed to comply with legal requirements.
When a Dispatch team visited facilities in Buffalo City and Mthatha last week, several were still operating despite the department’s legal action.
Patients were observed at some centres wearing chains or leg irons.
One mother who previously admitted her son to the St John’s Rehabilitation Centre said she was horrified by what she witnessed.
“I paid R4,000 registration and R1,000 monthly fees,” she said.
“When I went to visit him after three weeks, he was as thin as bones and locked in chains.”
A man who was said to be the owner of the centre declined to comment at the time.
Yet support for some centres remains strong in certain communities.
Residents in Scenery Park defended the work of the St John’s Rehabilitation Centre, while community members in Gcuwa said facilities had helped reduce crime and remove drug users from the streets.
Nomthandazo Nomzamo Sokhanyile, owner of the Indumba Yenene Healing Centre outside Mthatha, said she was shocked to learn the department considered her operation illegal.
“Social development visited my centre, advised me what to do and issued me with registration documents in 2022. I have always believed I was compliant.”
The traditional healer said she had operated the facility for 17 years and currently housed 59 adult male patients.
Sokhanyile acknowledged that some patients were in leg irons but insisted these were applied by families before arrival and not by staff.
“No assault is tolerated here. I once dismissed a security guard for slapping a patient,” she said.
She also argued that indigenous healing methods should be recognised alongside conventional rehabilitation programmes.
Fanta said compliance with the relevant legislation was non-negotiable.
“Drug and substance abuse is a significant challenge in our society and it is imperative that we provide effective, safe and legitimate treatment options for those in need,” she said.
The department said patients displaced by closures would either be accommodated in legitimate treatment facilities where space permitted or returned to their families.
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