Scientology-linked rehab boots out whistle-blowers who exposed illegal labour practices

After Daily Maverick ran an article about how Narconon Africa Rehabilitation Centre allegedly abused workers, engaged in irregular practices and flouted labour laws, the organisation responded by kicking the whistle-blowers off the premises.

When medical liaison officer Nomalady Nekhabambe and social worker Nhlanhla Pangisa came forward with allegations of worker abuse, irregular practices and the flouting of labour laws, the whistle-blowers fully expected blowback. However, they did not anticipate increased intimidation and strong-arm tactics from Narconon Africa so quickly.

On Thursday, 23 January, the directors of Narconon South Africa – the name under which Narconon Africa Rehabilitation Centre is registered – Sandile Hlayisi and Diana Safina, swung into action.

What began as an offer of retrenchment escalated to Nekhabambe and  Pangisa being suspended and kicked off the non-profit organisation’s North West premises, with no concern about how they would get home, the employees said.

This came only a day after Daily Maverick published an article detailing how the NPO engaged in illegal labour practices including late or non-payment of salaries, and making UIF and PAYE deductions from wages despite not registering employees with the Department of Labour or the SA Revenue Service.

Retrenchment attempts

Nekhabambe said, “Sandile and Diana came to my cottage at 10am with retrenchment forms and asked if I was prepared to sign. I told them I am refusing to sign because what they are doing is wrong and they are just trying to silence me.”

Nekhabambe and Pangisa provided Daily Maverick with recordings of the encounter. In the heated exchange, the directors admitted to the allegations of unlawful labour practices, conceding that it was wrong and claiming they had come to remedy the situation.

In the audio, Hlayisi is heard explaining that the rehab operates on the basis that “things” are only paid when clients arrive at the facility. He said that the rehab was not at full capacity.

Nekhabambe was offered a “severance package” of R20,000 which Hlayisi claimed covered her outstanding pay, one week’s remuneration, notice pay and leave pay.

The medical liaison officer shared a copy of her payslip with Daily Maverick, which showed that her weekly pay, before deductions, amounted to R5,000. After going four weeks without being compensated, the severance package would cover only Nekhabambe’s outstanding pay.

When asked if the organisation would return the UIF, PAYE and workers’ compensation deductions Narconon had been making since August, Nekhabambe was told that would not happen.

“You can go to the courts if you want,” Safina said.

According to Nekhabambe’s payslip, the weekly deductions are as follows:

• UIF: R50;

• Workers’ compensation: R37.50;

• PAYE: R461;

• Food: R750;

• Total: R1,298.50

This comes to R5,194 a month and R25,970 for the five months the medical liaison officer had been working at the facility.

The employees included the monthly deduction for food in their grievances because Nekhabambe and Pangisa said they were not told about the deductions when they began their employment at Narconon.

According to Section 34(1) of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), an employer is prohibited from making deductions from an employee’s wages without their written consent. The only instance where an employer can make deductions without consent is when it is required by law, collective agreement, court order or arbitration award.

“They said they want to pay people what they owe them but I am not owed R20,000 by Narconon. For five months they have been taking almost R6,000 and saying that they are paying SARS and Labour when they weren’t. Five months they were unlawfully taking money and now they tell me I can’t get it back. They are mad and I told them I will not take the retrenchment package because what they are doing is wrong,” Nekhabambe said.

Pangisa was given the same offer, but the package she was offered was also less than what she was owed, so she rejected it. She said she would have no problem leaving Narconon, but would do so only when the NPO agreed to pay her everything she was owed.

Thursday was not the first time Nekhabambe was given a notice of retrenchment. On 30 December 2024, after weeks of vocally expressing their dissatisfaction with not being paid, both the medical liaison officer and Pangisa were handed retrenchment notices which they refused to sign because they wanted to be compensated first.

Talks turn sour

Pangisa said that Narconon, represented by Hlayisi and Safina, did not take kindly to the two employees’ rejection of the retrenchment package. Mere minutes after she and Nekhabambe laid out to the directors the terms under which they would accept the retrenchment package, the pair returned with a fresh batch of documents – suspension letters.

The directors said their investigation into the workers’ grievances flagged troubling conduct on Pangisa and Nekhabambe’s part.

Nekhabambe was told that she was being suspended for not performing a pregnancy test on a client who entered the rehab centre in October 2024.

“This does not make sense. That student was sent from the Narconon centre in Kimberley. Why didn’t they do the test there? Also, I told them that I took the student to the doctor where the test was done because it is not my responsibility,” Nekhabambe said.

Pangisa’s offence, according to the notice of suspension Daily Maverick has seen, was that she failed to follow Narconon rules by refusing to deliver services to a client on 19 January, failed to complete progress notes and was accused of “creating unrest”.

“The 19th was a Sunday and it was my weekend off so I was not even at work. So the question is, when did I refuse to do work when I was not even there?” Pangisa asked.

After the employees challenged the reason for their suspension, Hlayisi and Safina told them that Narconon would pay the outstanding amount Pangisa and Nekhabambe were owed – including PAYE, UIF and food deductions – on condition that they signed official documents stating that they chose to resign of their own free will.

An additional condition of payment was that if they accepted the payment, they had to sign a document stating that they would not seek any further payment from the NPO or speak publicly about Narconon.

Ultimately, the employees were given two hours to vacate the premises pending an investigation into their suspension. While Pangisa had an apartment in Johannesburg and left on Thursday evening, Nekhabambe’s home is in Venda, Limpopo.

“Imagine, I am an old lady in her 60s and they wanted to kick me out with no money when my home is so far away. In the type of country we live in, is that safe?” she asked.

The medical liaison officer left the rehab facility on Friday when it was safe for her to do so. She said she was still unclear about where they stood with Narconon.

“They came with so many documents with different proposals, I don’t know whether I have been retrenched or suspended or if they are going to tell people I resigned. I know this is happening because I decided to speak out, but I don’t care, I’m glad I did it,” Nekhabambe said.

Where was the money going?
Daily Maverick’s previous request for comment to Narconon Africa went unanswered but the audio leaked by the whistle-blower offered a confounding answer:

“This money went to pay salaries to people. Some money was deducted and from this money, people were paid their salaries,” Safina can be heard explaining in the audio.

When Nekhabambe asked if Narconon was deducting money from her to pay other employees’ salaries, Safina said that the money was deducted to pay her salary.

“These people think we are stupid,” Nekhabambe told Daily Maverick. “If they were making these deductions to pay my salary, wouldn’t I have all that money right now? When I ask them where the money is, they don’t have answers, but that is all we want to know.”