<\/p>\n
The Department said reports that residents at the facility in Waterval B were allegedly chained, while children were present without appropriate safeguards, raised serious concerns about the protection of vulnerable people. \u201cPeople seeking help for substance-use disorders have the right to safe, professional and compassionate care,\u201d the Department said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir vulnerability must never be exploited, and no practice presented as treatment can justify abuse, neglect or violations of human dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Under the Prevention of and Treatment for Substance Abuse Act, operating or managing an unregistered treatment centre is prohibited.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The registration requirement applies to facilities run by private individuals, non-profit organisations and faith-based institutions.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
All treatment centres must comply with standards governing the care, treatment and rehabilitation of service users.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Social Development Minister Dina Pule said the immediate priority was protecting the rights, safety and well-being of those affected, particularly children.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Department is working with law-enforcement agencies and other government departments to address the matter.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Social workers are assessing affected residents, providing psychosocial support and coordinating referrals to appropriate services. Safe reunification with families will be supported where suitable.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Families were urged to verify the registration of treatment centres with provincial Social Development departments before admitting relatives.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Caregivers should request valid registration certificates and consult social workers about appropriate treatment options. \u201cAdvertising, personal recommendations or religious affiliation should never replace proper verification,\u201d the Department said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Families should remain involved throughout treatment, maintain contact with relatives and report concerns about safety or well-being.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Community members, traditional and religious leaders and organisations referring people for treatment were also urged to report suspected unregistered centres.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":44630,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-48472","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"South Africa's (SA) Department of Social Development has condemned the alleged abuse and degrading treatment of residents at a suspected illegal treatment centre in Siyabuswa, in the Mpumalanga province.","published_date":"","news_description":"South Africa's (SA) Department of Social Development has condemned the alleged abuse and degrading treatment of residents at a suspected illegal treatment centre in Siyabuswa, in the Mpumalanga province.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/48472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/48472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48474,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/48472\/revisions\/48474"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=48472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}