Residents and parents of Mandela Park in Khayelitsha are concerned after approximately 100 addicts broke out from a local rehabilitation centre on Saturday.
It is believed that the escapees overpowered the facility’s security guards following an announcement that the wife of Shahid Mlamli Silwana, Iliso Lakhe Rehabilitation’s deceased founder, would take over facility operations, according to co-owner Abdullah Gobscall.
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It is alleged that the wife has a history of abusing and mistreating some of the children at the facility. After expressing their discontent with her taking over, the break out ensued.
The Khayelitsha Development Forum urged residents to remain calm as they try to find resolution to ensure normality in the community as well as in the rehabilitation centre.
It was reported that Iliso Lakhe Rehabilitation was opened last year, occupying around 125 drug addicts. At the time of the break out, it was rumoured that over 300 people were being treated at the facility.
However, the department of social development in the Western Cape says the rehabilitation centre is not registered and it therefore has no record of the facility in their database.
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