<\/p>\n
Cape Town \u2013 Valkenberg Psychiatric Hospital\u2019s dark and scandal-ridden past was revisited during an event to mark the facility\u2019s 130th anniversary, noting just how far the facility has come.<\/p>\n
The Valkenberg Facility Board hosted a breakfast with provincial Health and Wellness Department representatives and stakeholders on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The Covid-19 pandemic prevented the psychiatric hospital from commemorating the milestone last year.<\/p>\n
Newspaper cuttings from major titles provided a glimpse of headlines made by the facility over the years.<\/p>\n
Professor Sean Kaliski said: \u201cThis hospital has come through many scandals, mass breakouts etc.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I arrived in 1989, this hospital had about 2 000 beds.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of the wards had chronic patients living in abysmal conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to this, black and white patients were separated.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was horrendous under apartheid. Many of the staff were denigrated, humiliated,\u201d Kaliski said.<\/p>\n
Up until the late 19th century, psychiatric patients were sent to Robben Island, together with people suffering from leprosy.<\/p>\n
The building in which attendees had gathered had been the entire hospital, he said, with one side for men, and the other for women. The original building was red due to the special clay used.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you imagine, this astonishing red beacon between two rivers, the Liesbeek and Black, and the idea was that this was going to be an asylum.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow the real meaning of asylum is a place of refuge, so the whole area was farmland and patients would cultivate crops and look after cattle, etc.\u201d<\/p>\n
This ended in the 1970s due to a scandal related to the exploitation of psychiatric patients, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really should do a lot more to learn the context of this institution, and how it fits in with today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Felix Maci entered the facility in 2015 due to substance abuse. Maci said that he is currently sober and works as a barista at Friends of Valkenberg.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to going back to the community but I need to be sure that I\u2019m not going to go back to the character I used to be. The support I\u2019m receiving here is very helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Head of clinical unit Dr Qhama Cossie said substance-related disorders formed the bulk of cases at Valkenberg, with infrastructure a major challenge.<\/p>\n