Staff at the Westview Rehabilitation Clinic in Florida, Johannesburg are left unemployed following the closure of the clinic two weeks back. This comes after the Gauteng Department of Social Development cut funding to the facility pending an investigation. 

The clinic, open since 1970, offered a six week inpatient treatment programme to 1500 inpatients a year and 27 outpatients a month. Inpatients were placed on a six week detoxification programme, and received one-on-one, family and aftercare counselling. The clinic also offered outpatient and mobile services to drug users from Dobsonville, Doornkop, Lewisham, Kagiso, Toekomsrus and surrounding areas.

Health-e News spoke with Zodwa Motha*, an assistant nurse at Westview who says that clinic management told staff members- which includes nurses, social workers, cleaners and security guards- in February that their employment contracts would not be renewed at the end of March 2024. 

‘’The reason we were given by the director of the clinic was that the Gauteng Department of Social Development would no longer be funding the rehab centre, and therefore the clinic was closing,’’ says Motha. 

But after the announcement, all the employees of Westview were told they must come to work for the months of April and May, which they did. But Motha says they still haven’t been paid for these months.

Motha has been working at the rehab centre for almost five years. Her employment contract was renewed every six months. Even though their contracts were not renewed in March, she says that she still had hope that they would be. 

Unable to make ends meet 

Westview is one of four rehab centres in Gauteng that have been operating without any departmental funding since March this year and this has led to things crumbling in the facility.

Motha says that, from March,  patients started complaining about the food they got. Meal portions were smaller, patients would get plain bread without any butter or jam, and they got cold tea because there was no electricity to boil the water. 

Even though their contracts had expired the clinic still continued to admit patients and healthcare workers continued with their day to day work. 

The last two patients were admitted at the clinic at the beginning of April 2024 for detoxification and later discharged at the end of that same month. One patient was released into the care of his father and one was transferred to a psychiatric facility.

In the past two months healthcare workers were forced to use their own transport for multiple trips between Westview and  Discovery Clinic, which is 2.3km one way, without any reimbursement from the facility or the department. Social workers at the centre have had to use their own money to pay for petrol for the centre’s car, which they use for outreach programmes.

‘’When we were given our unemployment insurance fund documents it felt like the director of the clinic was permanently releasing us from our duties, however she kept on saying that the matter will be resolved and we will return to work but I doubt it,’’ recalls Motha. 

Defunding of the facility

Themba Gadebe, the spokesperson for the provincial social development department, says that the clinic has been receiving full funding from the department since 2018. But the agreement has not been renewed because of ‘’troubling findings’’ from an investigation launched by the department. 

According to Ruth Matthews*, who is part of the clinic’s management, the department has defunded three other inpatient rehabilitation centres. 

‘’Golden Harvest Treatment Centre in Randburg, Freedom Recovery Centre in Nigel and Jamela Rehabilitation Centre in Vanderbijlpark are centres that have been offering inpatient treatment for some years. However, we have not received subsidies from social development at the end of the 2023/2024 financial year,’’ says Matthews.

She says they only received communication from the department a few weeks ago informing them that they would not be receiving funding due to ongoing investigations. But, as management, they have not received communication as to why they are being investigated.  

Motha also confirms that, as staff, they were informed that the department is taking the clinic’s director to court on allegations that are still unclear to them. 

Gadebe declined to give more information regarding the investigation and the allegations that are brought against Westview. 

Unclear allegations 

Lisa Vetten who is the chairperson of the Gauteng Care Crisis Committee says that it is still unclear what the social development department is accusing Westview rehab of. 

The Gauteng Care Crisis Committee is a voluntary network consisting of non-profit organisations in the province that are facing a possible closure due to non-funding. 

 ‘’I would be very interested to see if these allegations against Westview have any substance. None of these organisations have been provided with details of what it is they have supposedly done,’’ says Vetten. 

She further says that it is impossible for a person to defend themselves if they do not know what they are charged with. 

According to Vetten, talks are still continuing between the crisis committee, a judge, the Department of Social Development and the Westview legal team. 

At this point the fate of these nurses, social workers, cleaners and security guards lies in the hands of the department, while those in need of rehab go without. – Health-e News 

*Not their real names