The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Social Development says it has deployed a special team to investigate the allegations of abuse, assault and exploitation leveled against the Durban and Coastal Mental Health Home.
The center is home to mental health patients as well as people with disabilities.
The institution was implicated in various alleged rape cases and claims of exploitation; it has also been implicated in a case of negligence which led to the death of a 24-year-old patient. The allegations were made by families and relatives of the patients.
KwaZulu-Natal Social Development MEC Weziwe Thusi says, “There is a team that is made up of officials from the department, academics from universities and experts in the field of mental health, they are doing a full fleshed investigation. The investigation is on the allegations on Governance and issues of how the whole of the organization is ran and how our monies are used.”
Thusi also says the department was aware of some cases of sexual abuse in the centre which were reported in November last year.
The MEC says the findings of the preliminary investigations which were conducted in this particular case, were confirmed to be true.
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