Protest over an illegal disabled centre in Phola
Community members stood their ground and angrily said they won’t let Ms Molekwa and Mr Mahlangu out of the house. They said the children, who are believed to be from different areas of the country, needs a properly registered centre whereby they would be monitored by social workers like all the other centres.
Some community members of Phola in Ogies were up in arms and protested over what they deemed an illegal disabled centre in their area.
Nine disabled children, which were kept at one of the houses, were the main cause for the community to be angered. They said that owner of the centre, Mrs Maria Molekwa and manager Mr Robert Mahlangu, kept the children in very unhealthy conditions and did not posses the necessary documents to look after the children. They also alleged that they have been monitoring the house only to find that the children were inside the house most of the time and were not allowed to go outside, as if they were hidden from the public.
The protest in the house was held on Wednesday, March 15.
“We used to see one of the boys peeping through the window and you could see that he wants to play outside. As a community we were never consulted about the centre and Mrs Molekwa was very arrogant and rude to us. We wanted answers and she could not provide us with them. We also suspected that some of the children were removed from the centre after we protested and were not well fed,” said a member of the community.
Social workers, police, a ward councillor, officials from the office of the executive mayor, Community Development Workers (CDWs) and concerned officials from non-governmental organisations held a lengthy meeting. The meeting was held inside the house to find a way forward. In the end it was agreed that the children would be placed in a disabled centre temporarily until a solution about the matter is found.
Community members stood their ground and angrily said they won’t let Ms Molekwa and Mr Mahlangu out of the house. They said the children, who are believed to be from different areas of the country, needs a properly registered centre whereby they would be monitored by social workers like all the other centres.
Police later fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the crowd, including children from the nearby school. It was reported that the house used to house the children was burned down during the night on the following day.
Read also:
https://www.citizen.co.za/witbank-news/55040/demonstrations-at-phola/
https://www.citizen.co.za/witbank-news/88009/phola-on-fire/
