Following Daily Maverick's investigation into the squalid conditions at an unregistered rehabilitation centre in Hout Bay, the Western Cape Department of Social Development has announced that it will be seeking court orders to close down such facilities. In the interim, further allegations have emerged about Eleanore's Recovery Centre.

The Western Cape Department of Social Development (DSD) has identified 66 illegally operating drug rehabilitation centres in the province in the past year.

The scale of the problem of illegal rehabs was made clear in a statement released by the DSD late last week, following the publication of a Daily Maverick investigation into the squalid conditions at one such facility in the Cape Town suburb of Hout Bay.

The DSD stated that it had reached out to all 66 "unregistered treatment programmes and facilities to assist them with compliance and registration".

In order to be registered -- and therefore legal -- these centres need to obtain zoning, safety, health and food preparation clearances from the local municipality. They are also required to have qualified social workers, nurses and psychologists on their staff, as well as appropriate treatment plans.

In the case of Eleanore's Recovery Centre -- the rehab visited by Daily Maverick...