Rehab in cruelty shock

Children who misbehave at the controversial Noupoort Christian Care Centre face being stripped to their underwear and put in a cage.

This is according to a recent report by the Northern Cape department of social development into the circumstances of children living at the drug rehabilitation centre.

The national department has ordered the centre not to admit more children until further notice.

Some of the common experiences the children reported include:

• Being given food that was rotten;
• Those in the "correctional intervention disciplinary programme" being punished with hours of hard labour, and exercises that include walking for an hour carrying a 25-litre bucket of water in each hand;
• Being denied schooling; and
• Being forbidden to talk to each other.

Transnet recently applied to the Kimberley High Court to have the centre closed for failing to pay more than R800000 in rent.

The matter was later settled but not before the court appointed the University of Pretoria's Centre for Child Law to establish what would be in the best interests of the then 19 children living at the centre. In its report, the legal centre found that Noupoort was infringing the children's rights.

The court then ordered the centre to work with the provincial department of social development and submit another report to the court within 90 days.

A team from the provincial and national departments visited the centre and interviewed 14 children.

The team's initial findings confirmed those of the Centre for Child Law.

The provincial department has recommended that, with "immediate effect", no child be subjected to "correctional intervention".

It will implement fortnightly checks and monthly visits to Noupoort by its senior manager.

The department reported that most of the parents wanted their children to remain at Noupoort until the end of the year, especially parents with children in matric. But their main concern was the non-refundable fee they paid to Noupoort - between R38000 and R100000.

The department found that Noupoort was not registered as a child and youth care centre in terms of the Children's Act and it failed to meet certain "norms and standards".

Noupoort's lawyer, Paul Robbertse, denied that the rehabilitation centre failed to meet the required standards and said it was in the process of getting the necessary registration.

Robbertse did not respond to questions about the report's finding that children were caged. He denied that children were fed rotten or stale food.

Noupoort social worker Maria Venter told the department of social development that she had regular individual counselling sessions with the children.