“What we witnessed at the Ribeiro Treatment Centre is not rehabilitation, it is state-sponsored neglect, and it cannot be allowed to continue.”

This is the opinion of Bronwynn Englebrecht, a DA MPL, after an oversight visit to the provincial government’s Dr Fabian and Florence Ribeiro Treatment Centre in Cullinan in the first week of November.

Disturbing scenes at the centre have recently drawn sharp attention to the deepening crisis within Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s Tswa Daar anti-substance abuse initiative.

Images show close to 30 patients marching through the centre in late October, many of them protesting that they had not eaten all day.

Engelbrecht said this has once again highlighted Gauteng’s failure to deliver safe, humane and evidence-based care to some of the province’s most vulnerable people.

She confirmed that she will write to Social Development MEC Faith Mazibuko and Premier Lesufi, calling for an urgent investigation into both the Tswa Daar campaign and the state of all government-run rehabilitation facilities.

According to Engelbrecht, the situation at the centre reflects broader, systemic mismanagement that has been building beneath the surface of Lesufi’s highly publicised ‘war on drugs’.

Mazibuko has since confirmed to Engelbrecht that nearly 1 000 desperate individuals arrived at the centre on October 27, seeking help and rehabilitation. It is nearly three times the centre’s licensed capacity of 353 beds.

With staff overwhelmed and resources stretched beyond breaking point, hundreds were forced to sleep on floors and makeshift mattresses, crammed into overcrowded bungalows that could not safely or ethically house them.

This reality stands in stark contrast to Lesufi’s ambitious promises made during his 2023 State of the Province Address.

In this address, he pledged to expand rehabilitation services by more than 1 300 additional beds and to strengthen the treatment and aftercare framework.

Instead, explained Engelbrecht, the Tswa Daar campaign has unfolded into an operational failure with deeply harmful consequences.

She pointed out that, rather than structured, medically supervised support being available, reports emerging from the campaign paint a picture of bootcamp-style punishment, denial of medical care, and even physical assault.

“Social workers have described patients in withdrawal left without clinical supervision, confined against their will, and treated in ways that violate every recognised standard for inpatient rehabilitation.

“Some staff members have reported intimidation and coercion from political authorities, suggesting that the problems extend far beyond poor planning,” said Engelbrecht.

This troubling environment has led critics like Engelbrecht to argue that Lesufi’s ‘war on drugs’ has deteriorated into a war on the vulnerable.

Engelbrecht added that those who sought help have instead been subjected to hunger, neglect and abuse – victims not only of addiction, but of a system that has prioritised politics over people.

For the DA, the message is clear: a government truly committed to fighting addiction would have ensured that rehabilitation centres were adequately resourced, staffed and medically equipped.

“What should have been a compassionate approach has turned into a political spectacle,” said Engelbrecht.

The DA says it will continue to pressure the Gauteng provincial government to replace political theatre with compassion-driven, science-based rehabilitation services.

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