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A HOUSE in Grassy Park accommodating 15 girls, apparently for the purpose of rehabilita?ting them, has been declared illegal by the Department of Social Development for not being registered as a rehabilitation facility.

Ganief Wolmerans, who rents the house from the owner, claims he is running a religious institution, not a rehab centre.

Noman Khan, owner of the Fourth Avenue house, explains that he rented the house to Wolmerans knowing that it would be used as a rehab centre, but was concerned to learn from People's Post this week that it is not zoned for this use, and that it is not registered with the Department of Social Development as a rehabilitation facility.

According to Luthando Namzi, spokesperson for the provincial Department of Social Development, for a rehab centre to be registered, it needs to meet the City of Cape Town?s zoning regulations, provincial health regulations and the mi?nimum standard in terms of qualified professional staff.

It also requires suitable facilities and an approved treatment programme.

"The relevant authorities will visit the centre to investigate, and the management of the centre will be warned that they are operating illegally," says Namzi.

The house has four rooms and one bathroom, shared between 15 girls.

Wolmerans says the centre, called Alfalaqah, is not a rehab, but rather an institution that uses religious teachings to "rehabilitate" the girls.

He says that they do not discuss drugs.

He also says that they are currently in the process of registering as a non-profit-organisation.

But Namzi disagrees, saying that the centre in Fourth Avenue has made no application, and is thus ope?rating illegally.

Sarah Fisher, executive director of Substance Misuse Advocacy Research and Training (SMART), says it does not matter whether an organisation is a faith-based organisation or a community-based organisation ? it has to be registered with the Department of Social Development.

"If you are offering a rehabilitation service, you need to be registered with Social Development and be re-zoned," she says.

Wolmerans claims that the facility will be moved to another venue in Schaapkraal. He plans to open a second facility in Wellington by May.

People's Post reported on an incident ("Rehab death shrouded in mystery", 9 October 2007) at ano?ther unregistered rehab centre in Grassy Park, where Siraaj Charles (19) of Manenberg died on 7 October last year after complaining of a "prickly" feeling in his head.

His parents had sent him to the rehab centre a week before his death to treat his tik addiction.

Sources at the time of the incidents claimed that Charles was severely assaulted, which apparently caused his death. Initially, police had opened an inquest docket, but then changed it to a murder docket.

According to Inspector Stephen Knapp, communications officer at the Grassy Park Police station, six months after Charles' death they are still waiting on the postmortem results.

"We have no new leads," says Knapp. Anyone with information can phone Inspector Calvin Mokwa on (021) 700-3925.

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