On Freedom Day in 2021, President Cyril Ramaphosa officially opened the Charlotte Maxeke Treatment Centre in Botshabelo in the Free State.
Ramaphosa was accompanied by the then top national and provincial delegates, such as former minister of social development Lindiwe Zulu and her then deputy Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, and former premier of the Free State Sisi Ntombela.
Other dignitaries present included former social development MEC Mamiki Qabathe, with the Charlotte Maxeke surviving relatives and Charlotte Maxeke Foundation representatives, among others, to open the state-of-the-art centre.
However, four years later, after the much fanfare displayed in 2021, the Charlotte Maxeke Treatment Centre is a shadow of itself, after it was closed.
The centre, which was run by the state, provided treatment to people with substance use disorders free of charge.
Violation of safety measures
However, due to serious concerns raised by the Public Servants’ Association (PSA) over claims of safety violations that posed threats to employees and patients alike, the centre was shut down.
The union had made a request to the Department of Employment and Labour to conduct an inspection.
As a result, the department conducted an inspection through a site visit, and this is where many discrepancies were flagged, as inspectors uncovered multiple breaches of occupational health and safety (OHS) regulations.
PSA provincial manager Aubrey Nappie said that the breaches uncovered included a high risk of carbon monoxide poisoning from the use of outdoor gas heaters inside enclosed areas, fire hazards owing to the unsafe use and storage of gas equipment, and critically poor lighting that severely impacted visibility and operational safety.
“In view of these grave risks, the Department of Employment and Labour ordered the immediate closure of the facility until all safety concerns are fully resolved and the centre is brought into full compliance with OHS standards.
“The safety and wellbeing of public servants and service beneficiaries are of paramount importance and non-negotiable,” said Nappie.
Department praised for swift action
He said the PSA had commended the department’s swift reaction to the intervention it took to deal with the matter.
“The PSA will continue to monitor the situation closely and insists that no employees or patients be allowed back into the facility until all identified risks have been addressed and confirmed by relevant authorities,” said Nappie.
It was not immediately clear where the provincial department of social development had moved patients and employees to at the time of publication.
The Department of Social Development, in its budget for the 2024/25 financial year, has stated that it would pump in R28.7-million, which was earmarked for operations at the centre.
When the centre was launched in 2021, the former premier, Ntombela, announced that over 100 people would be employed, with the majority of the staff being women and youth.
