End of an era: Sparrow Ministries is no more

Florida — Sparrow Ministries, the brainchild of founder and owner Reverend Doctor Corine McClintock, has effectively ceased to exist.

The ministries offered a safe and dignified hospice service to destitute people and children suffering from HIV and Aids.

According to McClintock’s niece Odette van Zyl, she removed McClintock from the notorious Aids Village, as it was colloquially known, following her diagnosis with early-stage dementia, arrhythmia and atrial fibrillation.

Sparrow Ministries was started by McClintock 34 years ago and was once an internationally known and respected flagship HIV/ Aids hospice and chronic care facility, sporting a child and youth care centre and a crèche.

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By 2014, the situation at the village had spiralled out of control, and after numerous allegations of sexual abuse of children, the Department of Social Development decided to close down its childcare centre due to non-compliance with the Children’s Act.

About 160 children between the ages of five and 18 were removed by the department and placed in state institutions or foster care, much to the disdain of McClintock.

The ever-worsening situation at Sparrow Ministries prompted the department to withdraw all funding for the village in 2019, leaving it completely at the mercy of private donors.

According to Van Zyl, a visit to her aunt in late January left her shocked at the appalling state of the once magnificent facility.

“I went there to find my aunt very ill, living in filth, and not having had anything to eat for days,” she says. “I removed her from the premises, and she has been living with me since mid-February.

“I have spoken to several people, who have told me that the residents of the village have on a few occasions assaulted my aunt.”

Van Zyl adds that the property has been vandalised and everything that could be stolen to be sold for cash was stripped by those living on the premises.

She alleges that residents of the facility are illegally renting out halls and other facilities at the premises to churches and a drug rehabilitation centre, and pocketing the money.

“The residents have even gone so far as to use my aunt’s credit card fraudulently, and she now owes the bank R18 000. Her personal account was been fraudulently used by residents.

“I’ve received a call from the City of Johannesburg’s collections department alleging a more than R57m outstanding amount for municipal services.

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“I have been trying since February to get help from various government departments, but with no luck. The few emailed answers that I did receive were all along the lines of ‘it is not our mandate’.

“There are a handful of legitimate patients – very ill people – left at the village, and my concern is for them. I doubt any of the money raised is being used to look after these patients.”

The Roodepoort Record has reported repeatedly on the illegal goings-on, police raids, and other scandals that befell the once prestigious facility over the years.