AFTER 45 years of providing shelter and skills training for the disabled people of uThungulu District, Jabulani Rehabilitation Centre will shut its doors for the last time in May.
The facility, which caters for the physically challenged from communities around Empangeni, has been in operation since 1971.
According to the Association for the Physically Challenged (APC), they decided to put the place up for sale because of high operational costs.
Eleven of the centre’s inhabitants have been allocated government housing at Dumisani Makhaye Village, while another 11 have been waiting for the RDP houses for more than five years.
The residents unanimously voiced their sadness and disappointment about the imminent closure of the place they have been calling ‘home’ for decades.
‘We are very unhappy about having to move. For most of us this place is the only home we know.
‘We came to stay here because we were not treated well by our relatives back home,’ said one resident, requesting anonymity.
APC management confirmed they have found a buyer and said as soon as the sale goes through the residents will have to vacate the premises.
‘The new buyers have refused to let the residents stay on until they have all found RDP housing,’ said APC manager Jane Channels.
Ntambanana Municipality Ward 5 Cllr ZZ Xulu said he is very disappointed about the latest developments at Jabulani.
‘I feel APC is abusing our people by throwing them out in the cold. As a local councilor I should have been told about this issue.
‘I have asked for a meeting with them at Ntambanana Municipality, for us to find a way to save the people of Jabulani,’ said Xulu.
Xulu further accused ward 7 Cllr Mubi Sibiya for interfering in the Jabulani matter.
‘Instead of involving me in this issue, Mubi has been entertaining the APC people, playing with the people’s lives,’ Xulu added.
