Gauteng government welcomes closure of illegal drug rehab centre
Mahomed Shaik Sulaiman was assaulted at the centre and later died in hospital in October.
Hillbrow has a needle exchange programme for injecting drug users. But many residents are angry that drugs are openly used on the streets of the central Johannesburg suburb. Photo: Anova Health Institute’s Jab Smart outreach project.
Gauteng social development MEC Nandi Mayathula-Khoza on Friday welcomed the closure of the Magaliesburg Health Centre, a drug rehabilitation centre where 40-year-old Mahomed Shaik Sulaiman was assaulted and later died in hospital in October.
“We welcome the cooperation of the centre and we implore others who operate illegal centres to follow this example. We are committed to working with civil society and dealing with the scourge of substance abuse because government cannot do it alone. However, this must be done lawfully,” Mayathula-Khoza said.
On Thursday, the centre informed the Gauteng department of social development that it would shut its doors at the end of December 2018 and patients still at the centre were informed to vacate the premises.
Myathula-Khoza urged communities to ensure that they did not refer their loved ones to illegal treatment centres/halfway houses or community-based services.
– African News Agency (ANA)
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