The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union [NEHAWU] in Gauteng Province calls upon the Gauteng Department of Social development and Life Healthcare to immediately address the plight of 175 employees who are now facing retrenchment and the number of patients recovering from substance abuse who are currently denied their right to treatment which is supposed to lead to their recovery.
The union also finds it grossly unfair that employees and the patients should be used as sacrificial lambs with regards to the ongoing alleged multi-million rand fraud and organised crime in the province’s eight year corrupt relationship with the JSE listed company Life Healthcare.
The two affected facilities of Life Nkanyisa Recovery Centre has the capacity of 750 beds combined, making it the largest, not just within the province but in the whole country for patient treatment of substance abuse. The Recovery Centres receive referrals from across the province’s outpatient organisations, private social workers and psychologists. This is inclusive of the Gauteng Department of Social Development who is the funder and biggest client of Life Nkanyisa, followed by Sanca amongst many other organisations.
The facilities offer a 6 weeks in-patient treatment programme facilitated by Social Workers, Medical Staff and Care Workers. The facilities also offer a 1 year halfway house programme for those without support or living in the streets to avoid relapse. The closure of the facilities has impacted severely on the treatment of substance abuse across the province. There are only 2 other facilities in terms of bed-size that can accommodate only 200 patients, that being the government’s Dr Fabian &Florence Treatment Centre in Cullinan. This has led to many referral agencies seating with a huge number of patients who have to wait long before they can be admitted.
Life Nkanyisa stopped admitting patients from 27th May 2024 with the group that graduated on 12th May 2024. The patients in Halfway whom most of them were not even half-way on the 1 year programme had to be released by 12th July 2024 as the company could not continue to cater for them. Life Nkanyisa has always had a long waiting list of applications from referral agencies up the last admissions. Patients will normally wait for 4 to 6 weeks before admission and this means that they will now have to wait longer before admission given the limited spaces and smaller rehabilitation facilities with some only admitting just about 20 patients.
The union is demanding the following
• The two parties namely Gauteng Department of Social Development and Life Healthcare should reach an agreement to the effect that the two facilities/centres namely, Randfontein and Witpoort Recovery Centres be allowed to continue to function under the management of the Gauteng Department of Social Development.
• The 173 impacted Social Workers, Medical Staff as well as the Care Workers be retained to continue rendering services to the patients.
• The 6 weeks in-patient treatment programme as well as 1 year half way programme be retained for the treatment of substance abuse.
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Issued by NEHAWU Gauteng Secretariat
For more information, please contact: Mzikayise Tshontshi (Gauteng Provincial Secretary) at 0636851938 or email: mzikayise@nehawu.org.za or Thulisile Msimang (Gauteng Provincial Deputy Secretary) at 0721748062 or email: tmsimang@dtps.gov.za
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