The Goitsemodimo centre for the disabled has come under fire once again with former staff members claiming
that they were never paid.
Last week, the Herald revealed that this non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Kokosi is under investigation
after the Department of Health transferred mentally ill there from one of the Life Esidemeni facilities. The family
of one such patient, 39-year-old Mercy Ngqulunga, has since reported her as missing.
While visiting the facility with two councillors last week, the Herald found, among other things, that some
mentally ill men were being housed in a garage. It also discovered that the centre was not feeding the patients
what was on the menu.
The centre’s owner, Ms Lizzy Modisadife, denied any wrongdoing or knowledge of Ngqulunga or her disappearance.
It has since come to light that the centre has allegedly not treated its personnel very well either.
Since the story broke, several former employees have told the newspaper about serious employment issues.
According to one of them, Mr France Moatshe, he worked as an auxiliary nurse at the centre for a year and four
months without ever being paid. ‘There were always promises that we would be paid but it never happened. All our
names were supposed to have been filled in on a register from the Department of Social Development so that we
could be paid but not all the employees’ names were recorded,’ Moatshe lamented.
A former caregiver, who chose to remain anonymous, told the Herald that she did not get one cent. ‘The owner
said we would get paid once she got more money, but we never did.’ She worked there from April to July 2015.
Ms Conny Taunyane, who worked as a cook in the women’s section from January to 5 May last year, said Modisadife
took her ID number and account details but she was also not paid.

‘She said we would be paid once the department had paid her, but it never happened,’ According to Mr Thabiso Ngonze, he and other employees started working as volunteers because they were promised that they would be paid. He was supposed to be paid R2 000 as a security guard. ‘The only explanation we got was that there was some delay and that she (the owner) was waiting for sponsors.’
It annoyed Ngonze that, despite her excuse, new furniture was arriving at the centre. ‘I just couldn’t continue
like that because I have a little child and a wife to take care of. In the end, she chased us away and warned us never
to set foot there again,’ he said bitterly on Tuesday. The former employees say they tried to get help at the Fochville police station but were referred to the small claims court for compensation they never heard anything else after that.
Not even the Department of Labour could help them because they did not have the right documents.
The Herald contacted Modisadife to respond to the allegations on Tuesday, but when she realised who was calling,
she slammed the phone down. Unfortunately, she also recognised the journalist’s cell phone number and ignored
that call, too. She did not respond to questions sent to her via SMS.
When the Herald drove past the men’s section on Monday, nothing seemed to have changed. It was a sweltering
hot day but, as before, the side window was open and the door was still closed. One of the mentally ill
patients, who was smiling and waving exuberantly at passers-by, was hanging up washing on the wall and the gate.
A neighbour who lives close to the centre and chose to remain anonymous seemed shocked to hear that the
patients were being housed in the garage.
‘The door is always kept closed. The only one we see is the one who is always hanging up the washing,’ the
person said.
The Herald sent a list of related questions to the Gauteng Department of Health last week but had not
received a response by the time of going to print.