★★★★★Mark Lunney· 4 months ago

I’m going to say this again, but this time from a much harsher point of view, because if you’re a parent even considering sending your child to Healing Wings, you deserve a brutal warning — straight from someone who lived through two of their programs. As a 20-year-old who survived nine months there at 15 and another nine months at 17, I can tell you — in my personal experience and opinion — Healing Wings is not “help.” It is a psychological meat grinder that chews kids up and spits them out worse than they went in. My first program already felt like madness. I watched counsellors relapse. I watched staff bully a 14-year-old autistic boy at dawn. I barely got counselling — honestly, it felt like they threw us into a system and hoped desperation would somehow fix us. Volunteers, who were basically kids who had just finished the program, walked around with inflated egos and authority they absolutely should not have had. If they said something about you, it was treated like gospel. You had zero say. Zero agency. Zero protection. Kids weren’t guided — they were managed, manipulated, and ignored. When I returned at 17, it wasn’t “better.” It was just chaotic in new ways. In my opinion, the environment felt more like a dysfunctional survival camp than a rehab. Cliques turned into gangs. Kids smuggled in drugs like weed and crystal meth. I watched a counsellor physically manhandle a 16-year-old. I saw a kid get hit in the head with a spade. Phones and vapes were everywhere. Forced Christianity was shoved down your throat whether you believed or not. Theft was endless. Punishments were humiliating. We were waking up at 4:20AM to sprint outside in three minutes — and anyone who fell behind paid for it. And the stories that continued after I left? A younger boy — around 12 or 13 — reportedly getting hit in the head with an axe because older kids were desperate enough to try hijacking the car to escape. Desperate enough to use him as bait. Imagine the level of psychological pressure it takes for children to reach that point. Imagine that being your child. People love to say, “There are no options for troubled kids in South Africa.” But in my opinion, Healing Wings is not an option — it’s a warning sign. It’s a last resort people choose out of fear, not effectiveness. I’m still in therapy because of my experiences there. And I’ll tell you flat-out: if your child has a drug problem, I wouldn’t expect them to stay clean after leaving. If your child is badly behaved, there will be worse influences there. Because inside Healing Wings, in my experience, the environment doesn’t heal you — it infects you. I am warning you as harshly and honestly as I can: If you think you’re sending your child somewhere safe, structured, healing or controlled — you’re not. In my personal opinion, you may be sending them into something far more damaging than whatever brought them there in the first place. I would never wish this place on any child. Not one.

★★★★★Mark· 4 months ago

Speaking as a 20-year-old who survived two of Healing Wings’ so-called “9-month programs,” I can say without hesitation that both experiences were some of the most chaotic, damaging, and poorly run environments I’ve ever witnessed. In my personal opinion, calling them “rehabilitation programs” is almost insulting — to rehabilitation. I entered my first program at 15, and what I saw there will stick with me for life. My counsellors — the people meant to guide vulnerable kids — couldn’t even keep themselves sober. I personally witnessed relapse after relapse among staff. I watched an autistic 14-year-old get bullied at 5:30 in the morning by an adult staff member during inspection. Actual counselling? Maybe once a month if you were lucky. Meanwhile, “volunteers” — basically former kids thrown into positions they weren’t qualified for — strutted around abusing power over kids who had zero ability to defend themselves. If a volunteer said something about you, it was automatically treated as truth. Your voice meant nothing. Your recovery meant nothing. You were just another body in the system. My second round at 17 was a whole new disaster. Cliques formed like gangs. Kids smuggled in weed, crystal meth, whatever they could get their hands on. I watched a counsellor physically tackle a 16-year-old and shove his face into the ground. I saw one kid smash another over the head with a spade. Phones, vapes, drugs — everything made its way in. And let’s talk about the forced Christianity: you walk in one person and come out having been pushed, cornered, and pressured into a religion whether you wanted it or not. Theft was constant. Locks were broken, snacks were stolen — that’s if you even had snacks, considering the staff often confiscated them for reasons that made no sense. We were waking up at 4:20AM, sprinting to be outside in three minutes, running laps before sunrise — and anyone who couldn’t keep up was punished like a criminal. And even after I left, the horror stories didn’t stop. A 12- or 13-year-old reportedly got hit in the head with an axe because two older boys were trying to hijack the “food” car to escape, and they used the younger kid as bait. Imagine being so desperate to get away from a place that you resort to that. Imagine your child being on either side of that situation. People say South Africa doesn’t have many options for troubled kids — and maybe that’s true. But sending your child into an environment like this? In my opinion, it’s not “help,” it’s trauma with a uniform. I still go to therapy because of it. And if you think your child will walk out clean from drugs or magically well-behaved, I’ll be blunt: they won’t. They will see worse behaviour inside those walls than anything they came in with. I wouldn’t wish this place on any child. I’m not a parent, but I know desperation. And even in desperation, Healing Wings is not the answer

★★★★★Nicky Britz· 6 months ago

I was at this rehabilitation centre from the age of 15-18. To summarise my experience. This is a fear based programme that uses extensive punishments ranging from hours of manual labour to group sessions where you get bullied and degraded. My whole experience there was complying due to my fear of being punished for something as simple as leaving dust on my shelf or not being seen in the shower or toilet. After leaving the program my family didn’t recognise me and called my behaviours odd and “scary”. For the following 6 months I had had nightmares and wet myself as well as had the fear of being alone ingrained in me. I’m still in therapy to deal with the traumatic experiences 4 years later. I do not recommend.

★★★★★Kaitlyn Davis· a year ago

Thank you Healing Wings for all you did for me and my life. Words will never be enough to express how grateful I am that my life was saved during my time with you. Although I was challenged and at times it was difficult, I would not change a thing. Nothing in life worth having is ever easy. Thank you for showing me that I am strong and capable. I pray that Healing Wings continues to be taken from glory to glory.

★★★★★Garth TalkingPics· a year ago

It’s important to separate emotion from fact when considering a facility like Healing Wings. This is the only registered youth centre of its kind in South Africa, operating under the strict guidelines of the Department of Social Development. The centre employs six full-time, registered social workers who continuously monitor and support the wellbeing of its residents. With an extraordinary success rate, including a 100% matric pass rate, Healing Wings has a proven track record of helping young people turn their lives around. The program is strict and structured by design, and Healing Wings makes no apology for this. Rehabilitation isn’t easy, and their tough approach is often necessary to achieve real, lasting change. It’s also important to acknowledge that individuals who can’t complete the program—or who relapse after leaving—lash out by writing derogatory comments. Before forming an opinion, take the time to review Healing Wings’ credentials and the many success stories that have come from their dedicated work.